The New Betrayal
by Daniel Ocean
Summary: *CHAPTER 5 UP* What's happened to the Perfect Soldier? Where's Relena's sense of balence? And...who's the Mole's next victim? r/r!
1. Search for the Mole

The New Betrayal  
  
Daniel Ocean  
  
WARNING WARNING WARNING: I don't own Gundam Wing or The Mole, though I do admire both quality television shows. Also, I borrow some games from both seasons of The Mole and I do not attend to take credit for either of them. I don't want to have to say whether the game is original or not before each one so presume it is not. Enjoy!  
  
//host Anderson Cooper appears on the TV screen of hundreds of thousands of homes across the world and in the colonies.//  
  
"Welcome to the Mole. Thirteen players try to complete missions across Europe to gain money toward the pot. Money is gained as games are won, however, one amongst them is the Mole, a secret agent planted by the producers to foil the players. Up to one million dollars hinges on the question: Who is the Mole?  
  
//thirteen pictures and manes are thrown up, one my one, surrounded by random letters whizzing by.//  
  
Heero, 19, Army soldier, Sapporo, Japan  
  
Hilde, 18, Auto dealer, Munich, Germany  
  
Trowa, 19, Circus performer, St. Petersburg, FL  
  
Dorothy, 20, Auditor, Annapolis, MD  
  
Wufei, 19, Museum curator, Chongqing, China  
  
Lucretzia, 24, Test driver, Tucson, AZ  
  
Zechs, 25, Air Force Lieutenant, Pueblo, CO  
  
Sally, 22, Police officer, Preventers colony  
  
Quatre, 19, Musician/Art dealer, Alexandria, Egypt  
  
Catherine, 21, Performer, Las Vegas, NV  
  
Duo, 19, Junk yard owner, L2 colony  
  
Relena, 20, Doctor, Birmingham, England  
  
Traize, 26, Appraiser, New York City, NY  
  
//the scene cuts to an airplane over Spain as the last of the credits roll through.//  
  
"No," said Duo. "I wanna wake up from this dream. I don't wanna be on reality TV anymore! I wanna go back to L2! No, no don't drop me out of the plane NOOOOOOO..."  
  
Duo Maxwell was regretting the day six months before when everyone that was everyone from Gundam was at the Hard Rock Café and one of them noticed the casting call from ABC.  
  
"Hey, it's for the Mole!!!!" said Catherine. "I LOVE that show!"  
  
"Not a bad show," said Trowa simply.  
  
"I'm going to get applications for all of us and maybe they will draft us as a group!"  
  
"Riiiight."  
  
"Damn you Cathy! Damn you to hell!"  
  
//interview with Duo//  
  
"This is the last time in my _life_ that I am going to do something that Cathy says. Jumping out of Gundams, going into battles-you had adrenaline to work on there. I had to jump out of that plane completely cold."  
  
FOOSH. His parachute automatically opened. A little voice could be heard from his radio. "Look for a clearing in the woods beneath you."  
  
"How? You started this in the night."  
  
"You are to land there, find your bicycle, and petal to Pamplona, Spain per instructions. It is approximately two miles. You will meet the rest of the group and participate in your first game. Good luck."  
  
"No I don't know any Spanish and I don't know anyone-wait. No. Not the other Gundams nonononono..."  
  
//VO: "Unbeknownst to Duo or most of the others, nine of the thirteen contestants must make it to the plaza in Pamplona in a certain order. Each correct answer gives the group one thousand dollars.  
  
"The four left to pick the order are Traize, Dorothy, Cathy, and Quatre. The order they selected is Heero, Lucretzia, Sally, Trowa, Wufei, Zechs, Hilde, Duo, and Relena. The first seven are all there and only Lucretzia and Trowa made it in the right order. Relena is now ahead of Duo; if she makes it to the square in eighth place, then only two thousand dollars is put in the pot."//  
  
A gentle breeze carried Duo to the clearing. He struggled with his parachute for a minute, and he got out to his bike-which was in a huge wicker basket, with a flashlight and instructions. Duo turned on the light and looked at the map. "Of course it has to be blurry." He turned it over. "Ah. Written directions." He hopped on the bike and went out in concentric circles to find the road, and soon he was off.  
  
To be clipped by a fruit truck.  
  
"Hey! Look out there!"  
  
Then he off to Pamplona.  
  
Duo shined his flashlight ahead to the square he was entering. He squinted his eyes. "Huh. The rest of the pilots are here. And Noin and Relena and Sally. And Hilde-Hilde! And Dorothy. And..." He looked ahead, then accelerated to try to hit a pedestrian. "Cathy! Prepare to die!"  
  
She hid behind the host. Anderson Cooper only shook his finger at Duo. "Shame. First you are last to come and then you are attacking others. I'd fine you if you guys had money."  
  
"Super," said Dorothy Caledonia, right next to him. She thought for a moment. "Wait, none of us made it? I could swear one or two made it in the right order."  
  
"Yeah, two of you. Two thousand dollars. Whee.  
  
"So. I think everyone is here; let me take role call. Heero? Good. Duo? I know you're here. Trowa? Anyone seen Trowa? Ah, right there. Quatre is here, Wufei is here. Traize, Zechs, you both are here. Relena? Okay. Hilde? I saw you before. Cathy is behind me. Dorothy-okay, you're Dorothy. Sally? Perfect. Lucretzia? Are you there? Yes, and everyone is here.  
  
"Let me explain the rules. You all will try to complete games in eleven rounds, and success would add money to the pot. There are thirty-two in all, and completing them all will result in a $1 million pot.  
  
"One amongst you is the Mole. The Mole is going to try to repel your efforts, trying to reduce the pot size and trying to add strife to the group. At the end of the first ten rounds, there will be a test on the identity of the Mole. The lowest score will result in execution of the said player.  
  
"In the final round there will be the three remaining players-two honest ones and the Mole. A final test will determine the winner and loser and the Mole will reveal themselves.  
  
"The next game is tonight as well. Any questions?"  
  
There were no takers.  
  
"Cathy was glued to the tube every Tuesday," said Noin. "She'll clarify anything."  
  
"Very good." Anderson reached into a bag at his feet and pulled out thirteen blank black books. "Here are your diaries. You are not to mutilate them and ABSOLUTELY DO NOT write your name in them. There will be an explanation of that later.  
  
"Everyone ready for the next game?"  
  
"Yes." "Yeah." "Grunt." "Let's make some serious money."  
  
"Out of you thirteen, nominate three people who are good leaders but not very good shots."  
  
"Relena," everyone answered instantly.  
  
"Okay, two more."  
  
"I'll go with Miss Relena," said Dorothy.  
  
"No you are not," Relena replied.  
  
"Yes she is," interjected Anderson. "We only need one more."  
  
"You, Trowa," said Noin, from the back of the group.  
  
"I can mow down everything."  
  
"Yeah, but you have that machine gun thing in your Gundam, of course you can."  
  
"Okay, okay."  
  
"Very well." Anderson removed more stuff from his duffel-a laptop and ten homing devices. "All of you except the three here, put on these tracers. You three, go to the screen.  
  
"This game is called the Shooter game and it is very simple. Everyone with a homing device, pair up and get a laser tag gun. Each group has three targets, and all must be shot by that group-anyone else will not count. All three targets must be hit in twelve minutes for $5000-therefore, a total of twenty-five grand is up on the line. The three left here will navigate via party line."  
  
"Oh, I can see the confusion already," said Zechs.  
  
"Your twelve minutes start now."  
  
"They better be nearby," said Quatre, as he headed off with Wufei. Heero and Sally were partners, as were Noin and Zechs and Duo and Hilde. Traize and Cathy immediately asked directions for their target, but were pushed away ("Maybe you'll find them on your own.") They scattered into the night.  
  
Heero saw one target with his name and got it with one shot. Half a block down the road Sally got one just as easily. "This is too bloody easy!" they shouted at each other.  
  
//interview with Sally//  
  
"That first game was so easy, I thought it was a trick. There had to be a catch. I guess they will all get a lot harder from here."  
  
Across town Noin and Zechs were also having a ball. Moving swiftly together, they got two and then ran across the plaza for more targets brightly lit and six blocks away. They took the short cut near the three leaders, the producers and Anderson.  
  
The host appeared to be drinking some sort of wine. "Having fun?"  
  
"Of course," said Zechs.  
  
Wufei and Quatre were having..problems.  
  
"Relena, Relena." Wufei was radioing back. "Tell me the location of our targets. We haven't found any of them."  
  
"Wufei, ten others are calling me at the same time. I can't tell. Um, to your north."  
  
"How far?"  
  
"Just GO!"  
  
Quatre was shooting out a target. "I keep shooting and shooting and it isn't showing up."  
  
"It's one of Traize and Cathy's target, ninny."  
  
"Oh."  
  
//meeting with Wufei//  
  
"I've had some weak partners before, but the onna they call Quatre just takes the cake. Couldn't shoot anything and when he COULD he was aiming at the wrong thing. Thank God there was a time limit; we could have been there forever."  
  
Anderson hopped into a motor scooter and rode off. He found Hilde, who had split up from Duo. "Hey there, how are you doing."  
  
"Well and you?"  
  
"Good. Listen, I have an offer with you. You know an exemption gets yourself automatically into the next round. Or you do now. Right."  
  
"My God, you're already drunk."  
  
"If you shoot Duo, you lose the five thousand for the group but you will get an exemption. We'll watch you." Anderson drove off, weaving slightly.  
  
"Hey, Duo." Hilde heard no answer. "Get your butt on over here. Come on."  
  
"I'm coming, I'm coming." She could hear him turn the corner and walk up. "What? Did you find a target?"  
  
Hilde aimed for his gun, guessing that was where she had to shoot, and fired. Duo's gun began to beep wildly. "What the hell are you doing?" screamed Duo. "What is the meaning of this?" He shot back, but seemed to miss.  
  
Anderson's voice cackled over a megaphone. "Come on back, Duo and Hilde, you are out and there will not be the five grand you were aiming for."  
  
"Wow," said Hilde. "He got back to the plaza fast."  
  
//interview with Relena//  
  
"No one knew where they were going. For the ten of them there were the three of us and all ten were screaming for directions to the next target, PLUS Wufei was screaming that Quatre was an onna and Duo was bitching about getting shot, and there was Dorothy there over my shoulder...there wasn't enough aspirin in the world for my headache afterward."  
  
Cathy was wired. She had finally made it to the show she was wishing for so long to be on. An ABC cameraman was on her and she could feel the spotlight on her. She had to do something memorable. She turned a corner and hugged the wall, and peered around the corner. A target of theirs, with Quatre and Wufei arguing under it.  
  
"Hey Cathy."  
  
She screamed and whipped around, firing shots in all directions. She heard something give a sort of siren sound, and saw something blinking. Squinting, she realized who she had shot. "Thank you very much," said Traize. "Why your partner, Cathy?"  
  
"Uh...sorry?"  
  
"Okay, everyone, it has been twelve minutes." Anderson had the megaphone again. "Game is over, please make your way back to the plaza."  
  
Everyone did quickly. Quatre and Wufei were bickering and Sally decided to shoot the navigators for kicks, but for the most part they made it back successfully.  
  
"Very good, all. Heero and Sally got their targets and Zechs and Noin theirs, for $10,000. Quatre and Wufei did not get theirs in time, Hilde shot Duo for an exemption, and Cathy...shot Traize. Why was that, Cathy?"  
  
She felt twelve pairs of eyes on her.  
  
"Overexcitement?"  
  
"Okay folks, it is time to go back to the hotel and have dinner. You will all have to wake up 7:30 tomorrow for tomorrow's next mission."  
  
//cutaway to a scene in a elevator, presumably in the hotel. Dorothy and Zechs are inside.//  
  
"Hey, Zechs, you think she did it on purpose?"  
  
"Shooting? Of course Hilde did it on purpose. She did it for an exemption. This was affirmed here, DC"  
  
"Cathy, I mean. Did she do it to keep five grand out of the pot?"  
  
"I dunno. Maybe."  
  
//scene of a night in time-lapse, then a sunrise. The new scene then goes off to a bullring.//  
  
Trowa was in the stands on the side of the street of the famed Running of the Bulls, with ten thousand screaming fans all around him. He was wearing the white pants, white shirt and red bandanna of a runner-but he didn't know he was in the running. He was just told to stay there by the producer.  
  
"Don't worry, you won't be hurt."  
  
"Of course not." Riiiight.  
  
A loudspeaker crackled on. "Welcome to the Running With the Tiny Cars." This was immediately followed by the Spanish translation. "We at ABC are amazed so many people want to participate in this show, considering it is not airing here. Will this season's cast of The Mole please enter the streets." Anderson. Trowa could feel himself being pushed forward. He tried to jump up and "swim" farther from the street, but the opposite happened, he fell to the street.  
  
He saw Noin run on by. "Oh my god," she said. "What are we doing?"  
  
"I have no idea. We better run."  
  
A firecracker was shot off, and from the bull gates at the start of the run several small toy cars-big enough to hold one person but too small to be real cars-whooshed out to the run. The chibi sports cars picked up speed and turned a corner, ushering the contestants forward.  
  
"Don't get caught. If they tag you your group doesn't win five thousand dollars. Try to go all the way to the ring, and get into one of the chairs. Go quickly, 'cause those tiny cars are _fast_.  
  
//interview with Quatre//  
  
"The producers started me farther up than any of the others, so I stuck out from the rest of the group. Three cars were tailing me immediately. It was one of those impossible-to-do missions like last night's order game. At least this one was impossible for me."  
  
Cathy looked back, pondering. They seemed familiar. The cars came a little bit closer, and she ran like a scared cat. "Not worth getting run over, here."  
  
Safety areas were marked, and almost immediately Zechs and Cathy dived into one. Relena, immediately behind, saw them duck out of the race. "Cowards!"  
  
"Uh, don't get hurt," was all Zechs could reply with.  
  
"Hurt? I've never felt so aliiiiiiiive!"  
  
Everyone thundered past two straight-aways and hard turns that ended each. Duo made it past the first part of the race ahead of everyone, but one rider was close behind. He looked back and said, or shouted, "You look familiar." Then, "Howard!"  
  
"Hey, man! Look out at the road!"  
  
Duo did, and he saw fifty yards ahead that the road seemed to end. "Look out for that hard turn," he heard over the loudspeaker. "Make sure you're not on the outside."  
  
"Ahhhhhhh!" Duo let Howard move to the outside of him, then jumped across his hood, just before the turn. The turn had been greased down with butter- flavored topping, and Howard skidded and crashed. "Hey! I'll never get this dent out!"  
  
Behind, Dorothy saw the crash and made sure she stayed well away from the fuming Howard, gliding on the topping through the turn. The road ahead went directly into the ring-as it narrowed from what it seemed to be an avenue to side-way width. Everyone was compressed together, and Heero popped into second place, dodging the thickening cars.  
  
Looking ahead, Dorothy saw Duo pop into one oversized chair at the end of the run, then Heero.  
  
"I'm gonna make it! I'm gonna make it!"  
  
BOOM! One car swerving out of control and smoking turned right suddenly and knocked Dorothy to the ground. She got up and dragged herself into the nearest seat.  
  
"You were tagged," said Heero, next to her.  
  
"They don't know that." The three finishers to date disappeared under a shroud of smoke.  
  
//scene moves to twenty minutes later.//  
  
"Wow," said Anderson. "You guys did an amazing job on that one-nine out of thirteen making it. Only Trowa, Zechs, Cathy, and Dorothy didn't make it."  
  
Heero sent an "I told you so" look to Dorothy as Trowa rubbed where Midii Une had whacked him with her windshield.  
  
"Each of you who ran successfully earned five thousand dollars for the pot, for a total of $45,000. For being first, Duo is exempt from this round's execution. This was the last game of the first round, and you earned a total of $57,000."  
  
Everyone gave Duo a dirty look.  
  
"Tomorrow night will be your execution dinner where the first of you leaves the show. Good luck for tomorrow, and don't forget about taking notes."  
  
//personal interviews.//  
  
Dorothy: "I'm amazed that Zechs could not run a half a mile with those little toy cars. Kinda suspect for someone so fit. Also, Cathy watched this game a lot and did a big 'mistake' in the first round. I'm still suspicious of her."  
  
Duo: "I trust no one with eyebrows as freaky as Dorothy's."  
  
Relena: "Wow, I've never had as much fan as on the little run there. God, that as hilarious. And I had the adrenaline flowing and all that, and I was able to pull in five thousand."  
  
Trowa: "Une just doesn't know how to play nicely."  
  
//the execution dinner. All are seated at a large table and well-dressed, though Relena's outfit has an uncanny resemblance to the Running With the Tiny Cars game outfit.//  
  
"Hey, I liked the game a lot, okay?" Relena was defending herself. "Don't have a lot of opportunities for fun as ruler of the world, you know?"  
  
"I guess not." Sally looked around. "Someone shoot me if I'm executed, okay?"  
  
"'Kay." Wufei took a sip of water.  
  
Sally scowled.  
  
"So, changing the subject," said Cathy as she noticed that Wufei and Sally were about to fight. "Who do you think is going to go later?"  
  
"Duo," said many.  
  
"I have an exemption." Duo looked around. "I'm not wearing you all out that quickly, am I?"  
  
"Of course you are," said Trowa. "You just wouldn't be you otherwise."  
  
//the quiz. Sally is shown answering the question, "Is the Mole male or female?"//  
  
Sally: "That was a hard game to gauge, the car game. It's pretty tough looking, so people could look crooked diving for cover. And Quatre was a Gundam, how could he not be able to shoot at a simple target?"  
  
//a few questions later, Zechs is focused on, "Did the Mole make it to the square in the right order?"//  
  
Zechs: "It's impossible to do that right-we didn't know what the order was. But Noin and Trowa made it in the right order! Maybe one of them is a Mole."  
  
//Heero is on, "Who is the Mole?"//  
  
Heero: "Dorothy is throwing attention to others, which is suspicious. Also, when she was hit by the tiny car, she sort of rolled into the impact though it blind-sided her. It looked like she was expecting it."  
  
//the execution. They are seated in what appears to be a basement.//  
  
"Okay, well, here is the first execution. If the computer screen-" he motioned toward the laptop-"flashes green, you finished somewhere other than last on the test on the Mole you all just took. If it flashes red, then you got the lowest score and you must leave.  
  
"All right, everyone ready?"  
  
"No," replied Traize.  
  
"Let's go, then." Anderson started the program. "Duo and Hilde have exemptions. Good thing, because Duo had the lowest score."  
  
"Hey! You aren't supposed to say that!" Duo was not pleased.  
  
"And so, therefore, the one with the second lowest score must leave. Let's go in alphabetical order." Anderson typed in "Cathy" into the computer.  
  
It immediately flashed green.  
  
Next-Dorothy. The screen stayed the same for a couple of seconds, then turned a blood-red.  
  
//highlights of Dorothy's stay, even if it's for just one episode. Prominent highlight-her getting bumrushed in the Running of the Cars//  
  
Dorothy: "Well...I guess it wasn't Zechs or Cathy all along. Ah well."  
  
Quatre: "I'm not sad to see her go...I still got the scar from where she stabbed me."  
  
Wufei: "I was not fond of the onna, but now I only have Sally and Duo to fight with."  
  
//Dorothy goes out to the sunset//  
  
You too can see how well you did at picking the Mole! Take the ten question quiz:  
  
Is the Mole male or female? (male/female)  
  
What does the Mole's profession involve? (cars/law enforcement or military/arts and music/performer/money profession/other)  
  
Where does the Mole live? (United States/Outside U.S., on Earth/Outside of Earth, on a colony)  
  
Was the Mole one of the ranked layers in Ordered coming, or a ranker? (ranked/ranker)  
  
Was the Mole successful in getting into his/her correct rank? (yes/no/was a ranker)  
  
Was the Mole a Shooter or Guide in the Shooter game? (Shooter/Guide)  
  
Was the Mole successful in the Shooter game? (yes/no/the Mole was a Guide)  
  
Did the Mole fire upon a player, or did a player fire upon the Mole, in the Shooter game? (The Mole fired at a player/The Mole was fired at by a player/Neither)  
  
Did the Mole win during the Running With the Tiny Cars? (yes/no)  
  
Who is the Mole? (Heero/Hilde/Trowa/Dorothy/Wufei/Lucretzia/Zechs/Sally/Quatre/Catherine/Duo/ Relena/Traize)  
  
  
  
Author's notes: Sorry I've been inactive for so long. Tenth grade feels twice as hard as ninth, and I'm being buried alive in work. Also, I'm trying to join the baseball team, and I've got to work at that. I'm all but pinned to that now, as I just bought a $70 glove for pitching. The more I get into that, the less enthused I am about it, but I have to at least try now. Also I'm going to try to get into the Speech and Debate club in my school. And I got to do these fanfics.  
  
Something had to give, and it was these.  
  
So, don't expect too much from me until next June. I'll crank out stuff once in a while, but don't expect a masterpiece like "One Potato, Two Potato" or "Unwinnable" anytime soon. 


	2. Songs to the Mole

The New Betrayal  
  
Daniel Ocean  
  
WARNING WARNING WARNING: I don't own Gundam Wing or The Mole, though I do admire both quality television shows. Also, I borrow some games from both seasons of The Mole and I do not attend to take credit for either of them. I don't want to have to say whether the game is original or not before each one so presume it is not. Enjoy!  
  
//host Anderson Cooper appears on the TV screen of hundreds of thousands of homes across the world and in the colonies.//  
  
"Welcome to the Mole. Thirteen players try to complete missions across Europe to gain money toward the pot. Money is gained as games are won, however, one amongst them is the Mole, a secret agent planted by the producers to foil the players. Up to one million dollars hinges on the question: Who is the Mole?  
  
//twelve images appear, one of each remaining player.//  
  
Heero, 19, Army soldier, Sapporo, Japan  
  
Hilde, 18, Auto dealer, Munich, Germany  
  
Trowa, 19, Circus performer, St. Petersburg, FL  
  
Wufei, 19, Museum curator, Chongqing, China  
  
Lucretzia, 24, Test driver, Tucson, AZ  
  
Zechs, 25, Air Force Lieutenant, Pueblo, CO  
  
Sally, 22, Police officer, Enforcers colony  
  
Quatre, 19, Musician/Art dealer, Alexandria, Egypt  
  
Catherine, 21, Performer, Las Vegas, NV  
  
Duo, 19, Junk yard owner, L2 colony  
  
Relena, 20, Doctor, Birmingham, England  
  
Traize, 26, Appraiser, New York City, NY  
  
//the scene cuts to a map, showing the new location of the layers: the tiny nation of Andorra. Viewers are told it is day four, the morning after Dorothy's execution. The players are shown at breakfast, as happy as the twelve probably could be.//  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Relena: "It's going to be a lot easier, now with no Dorothy. I saw her as my major obstacle to the cash. I was going to bomb a quiz if she stayed too long."  
  
Quatre: "Considering that she put a piece of metal in me, and IT'S STILL THERE, I'm not that upset to see her go."  
  
Trowa: "Now we know who probably _isn't_ the Mole. Cathy is almost certainly not the Mole, if Dorothy thought so, or Traize."  
  
//Anderson walks up to them as they finish off breakfast.//  
  
"Hey, you guys. You all slept well, right?"  
  
"Now Doro-chan is gone, sure." Duo stuffed the last of his mini-bagel home.  
  
"You know what time it is?"  
  
Noin looked at her wristwatch. "Ten-ten?"  
  
"It's time for your third mission."  
  
"So close to the end of breakfast?" Heero wrinkled his brow. "We don't have to eat five pounds of steak or jump out of an airplane right now, do we?"  
  
"Actually, it is a double mission. Some of you will be going to a market on the Spanish border and some will be going to the French border for a mystery mission. Tell me, which one of you _really_ like to drink wine or other drinks?"  
  
Duo immediately stuck his hand up. After a second, Noin does as well.  
  
"Okay, two is fine. Lucretzia, Duo, you two get to go in the Mole Beetle, the same one stripped down in the last season. There, your driver will meet you. The rest of you get to go in the van.  
  
//the scene cuts to the Beetle, driving up the hotel driveway. The driver sticks his head out the window, as does the navigator next to him. "You two the Mystery mission ones?"  
  
//personal interview with Noin//  
  
"When I saw the generals-Noventa and Dermail drive on up, it...it...not exactly a thing you expect. //shot of the four introducing themselves and the two players climbing into the back of the car.// What they have to o with the Mole...I don't want to know."  
  
"I hope we don't have to stomp on grapes. I don't want to get my feet sticky and have to stick them back in my new sneakers. Besides, I have little tiny feet. Just size fours. Duo's gonna have to do most of it."  
  
//back to the van, with several members lying in strange positions, as the seats were far to small. Wufei is heard to say, "Get off my hand, Yuy."  
  
//Interview with Quatre.//  
  
"If all of us have to work together to do something, then I predict some deaths here. Heero and Wufei won't work together, and Relena isn't welcome by either, and Zechs isn't that well liked by anybody really."  
  
//Noin and Duo have arrived at the vineyard. They are standing with Noventa, as Dermail can be seen in the background, at a table with six jugs and a timer at 2:02:25.//  
  
"Hello you two, whoever you two for this mission are. If you are playing this, you should be at the vineyard in the second round, for the Grape catcher game."  
  
"Catching grapes.how?" asked Duo.  
  
"Near the entrance of the vineyard , right there with Dermail, there should be six half-gallon jugs on a table with the Mole thumbprint on top." //cutaway to the table, right near the two.// "In two hours-we timed your trip and the clock should be about two-ten now--//cutaway to the clock at 2:00:43//--you will have to filled all eight jugs full of the grapes. He'll will make sure you do not start until the clock is at 2:00:00, and any green grapes or any stems will result in the exclusion of that jug in scoring.  
  
"Each full-to-the-brim-with-perfect-grapes jug is worth $6,000, except for the last one, worth $10,000. Start at two hours and see you as the clock runs down."  
  
//VO of Cooper: "Meanwhile, on the other side of the country:"  
  
The real Cooper was standing before the remaining ten players, at a bustling produce market near the French border, on the northern part of the country. All of them are dressed like tourists.  
  
"Welcome to the Market Search game, which is about as simple as the Shooter game. You guys have fifteen minutes and enough pesetas to cover the cost of what you are going to do. Each of you have to find an item in this market and bring it back to here in ten minutes. You must be right here then or else it won't count.  
  
"Each returned item is worth $2,500. Any questions?"  
  
"That's it?" asked Cathy. "No catch at all?"  
  
"Nada, senorita."  
  
"Uh-oh," said Duo. "Spanish."  
  
From the ground Cooper put up a large canvas with each player's name on it, followed by an item name in Spanish. "There's a Spanish-English dictionary at my feet. Good luck. Your time begins.now."  
  
Relena saw she needed aceite de oliva and headed off in a few seconds, as soon as she translated that in her head. Hilde headed right off for miel and Zechs for berenjenas. Cathy dug for her own dictionary feverishly, needing azucar. Trowa had an idea what café was and also headed off. Sally needed fresones and Quatre needed uvas, and they shared the former's dictionary. Duo, Heero and Wufei all crawled over each other for Cooper's dictionary, for, repectively, limones, mermelada, and cacahuetes.  
  
//cutaway to Relena wandering through the corridors between stands, looking feverishly to both sides. Personal interview.//  
  
"What I need is olive oil...it was kinda crappily translated by ABC...but this place is huge and I only got ten minutes. I'm looking and looking and my racing mind is making me see olive oil all over the place where there's fish, whipped cream...I think I'm getting psychotic."  
  
//VO of Cooper: "Back to the vineyard, where the players have 1:53 left."//  
  
Dermail and Noventa are cracking into a bottle of La Mole wine, wishing cheers to each other. Duo and Noin are not far away, trying to put the plump purple grapes through the thin neck of the first jug, which is slowly filling up. Duo has a handful of grapes, of which three or four go in the jug, the rest of which scatter all on the ground.  
  
"Well done, Duo," calls Noventa from afar. Dermail applauds.  
  
"Shut up!" The former Gundam pilot went to his hands and knees to pick his scattered handful up. Noin just watches. "Can't a guy get a little bit of help, here?"  
  
"You spilled them."  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Noin: "It's not a hard task at all, filling a jug up with grapes, but for some reason, Duo just can't do it. //shot of Duo spilling more grapes// "It's starting to look more suspicious. Maybe he's the Mole and bombed intentionally because he had an exemption."  
  
Duo: "Noin just isn't helping out all that much. I get handfuls. She just stuffs them in one at a time. She doesn't even stuff them in that cleanly, so the jugs are really getting pretty slippery. She almost lost all the grapes dropping it //shot of this happening//."  
  
//shot of Anderson, back at the market. "There's three minutes left," he shouts over a megaphone, "so you might want to consider coming back."//  
  
Trowa is already there with a half-pound of coffee. Relena is beaming at her bottle of olive oil and Zechs is holding a pair of eggplant. Cathy rushes into the area they're all in, holding a five-pound bag of sugar over her head. "I'm back!" she shouts. "This is the azucar, right?"  
  
"That is the correct item. Four out of ten, so far. Now we simply have to wait for the remaining players."  
  
//interview with Zechs//  
  
"When I first got back with my item, the three boys were still fighting over the lousy ABC dictionary, not at all realizing that Cathy and Sally were in such a rush to get what they needed, they both just dropped theirs to the ground and there's was one for each.  
  
"Also, when I came back, I had to go back. I heard...whatever, and I got oranges instead of eggplant at first. But I was able to get back to the market and back-I remembered where an eggplant stand was."  
  
A horn was sounded. "Okay, players, come on back, your time is over, and the market is closing. You got four out of ten items, for-"  
  
"Five! Five! Five!" Wufei rushed around a corner and back to the group, a bag of peanuts held high over his head.  
  
"Sorry Wufei, not in time. That was four items, for $10,000. The pot is now standing at $67,000."  
  
Wufei threw his peanuts down and cursed.  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Cathy: "Well it sure is very convenient that Wufei just made it out of the market in time to be two seconds late. With a fit of fake anger on the side, too."  
  
Relena: "Wufei's like that, with that little outburst. I'm surprised at Hilde, though. She's a reasonably smart individual, but we had to search for her after the game. She hadn't even gotten her item yet. I find that simply...interesting."  
  
Heero: "I spent the first nine minutes in the market looking for these." //holds up some limes.// "Then I have to be rescued and told that I needed lemons, not limes."  
  
//VO: As the players from the Market Search head north to their two teammates, one jug is full and another is half full with 48 minutes left. The game's first alliance is forming.//  
  
"An alliance with you, Maxwell? I don't think so. You were real clever in going in last place to almost get eliminated."  
  
"Yeah-I didn't have to be out of the cellar if you got an exemption. I bombed it because I wanted players to underestimate me."  
  
"I already underestimated you."  
  
"Well.."  
  
"Duo, I don't ant to go in an alliance with you for the sake of an alliance. What if you're the Mole, and what if you're going to just latch on to me and get info for me and not get any for you."  
  
"How about this?" Duo stuffed five more in the jug. "I will ask you for information only if I have a good piece of information every time but once."  
  
"Once?"  
  
"Now, so we can compare the players so far."  
  
"Fine." //a message pops up, "Coalition 1: Lucretzia and Duo."//  
  
"Okay, Heero. Whadaya think about him, Noin?"  
  
"A little too obvious suspect, besides, he's too good so far. Trowa?"  
  
"We made it in the right order, which is amazing, and he failed the Running with the Tiny Cars. It's a maybe. What about Quatre-we wouldn't be suspected, he could slip under the radar."  
  
"And he failed the Shooter game-he could very well be a Mole."  
  
"What about Wufei?"  
  
"No, he seemed too focused on money so far. Too hotheaded to be the Mole. But Relena-wow, she would be a great Mole. She did too good during that Tiny Car game. You know Hilde, what about her?"  
  
"What about her?"  
  
"I dunno, you know anything?"  
  
"No. Yes. She shot me."  
  
"Yeah, for an exemption. Maybe. Okay, uh, Cathy?"  
  
"She shot Traize, which could make her a suspect. She's got to be included. Sally hasn't done anything, though." Noin plucked a big bunch of grapes and slid them in the jug one by one. "So, is that it, Relena and Cathy and Quatre?"  
  
"And Trowa and Hilde in the background."  
  
"Right."  
  
//switch to Dermail and Noventa// "You know," said Noventa, "this La Mole wine, I found out a while back...it's really quite good."  
  
"I'm sure you found that out after TEN glasses."  
  
"You drank a lot of it too."  
  
"Yeah. The author...what a kind person."  
  
//VO: "The players from the Market Search have arrived at the site where the other two have been collecting grapes for an hour and forty minutes; twenty minutes remain."//  
  
Accordion music plays as Dermail, Noventa, Cooper, and the players sit down to have a snack: Dove ice cream bars, the same kind that Darwin and Bill ate-as contraband-during the pervious season of the American Mole. (*)  
  
"Oh, no you guys aren't." Noin was picking up more spilled grapes. "Do not tell me you are having food while we suffer."  
  
"Oh, absolutely." Cooper bit out a hunk of ice cream. "You'll get some after you're done."  
  
Duo was plucking grapes off the vine and stuffing them into his mouth, instead of the bottle. "Thebebes arb brealie goood." He took anoher bunch and ut its grapes one by one into the jug.  
  
"Maxwell." Looking at the stuffed teenager, Noin let her voice trail off. "Kids. Jesus."  
  
"Okay, your time is up," called Cooper. "Come on back so we can inspect your wares."  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Zechs: "I feel for Lucretzia. She had to spend the entire afternoon with Duo. She was all sunburned and tweaked and she didn't seem to be a very pleasant person afterward."  
  
Lucretzia: "We had two of those things full. If Duo hadn't of eaten half the grapevine we would have gotten the third-it was almost full. And he was fooling around all day. We could have gotten ten, fifteen thousand more dollars otherwise."  
  
"You guys have two full jugs. Fortunately, both have no stems and all the grapes are good, other than being a little mashed in, which is fine. You get twelve thousand more dollars for this mission."  
  
//shot of the van, with a VO of Cathy//  
  
"If Duo hadn't been screwing around we would have gotten at least six thousand more dollars. They were so close to the third jug, I'm sure he ate the difference."  
  
Duo: "Noin had the jug the whole time, and she picked very few grapes in the meantime. But when the others came she helped out more. It looks way too suspicious to me."  
  
//one day later, on Day 5. It appears to be early evening.//  
  
Cooper stands in front of the group, all of whom look more like tourists than they did the previous day. He himself has a camera slung around his neck.  
  
"All right you guys," he said, "you've been fed dinner, and now you have four hours to do a little sight-seeing around the country. In each of your bag, we have inserted directions to a club FROM THIS HOTEL. You must be at the club at eleven, so try to get back here by around 10:30.  
  
"It is seven o'clock right now, see you in four hours."  
  
//VO of Cooper: "The group spins off in many directions, generally going off in pairs-Zechs and Lucretzia go in one direction, Relena and Heero in another. Cathy, Trowa and Quatre is one group, as is Duo and Hilde. Traize, Wufei and Sally all elect to go alone thorough the streets of the small kingdom alone.  
  
Or do they?//  
  
//shot of Traize wandering the streets, loitering about, an unmarked scooter behind him about a half block away. We are told it is Myra Brown, a contestant from last year. Traize stops at a stand and Myra saddles next to him.//  
  
//11:03 PM//  
  
Cooper looks around the small back room that had been rented for the night to hold all the contestants. Outside in the front, people are swinging about a small stage, inflicting karaoke upon each other. "Eight...nine...ten...eleven. One person is missing. Looks like it's Traize. Who was with him when you guys were sightseeing?"  
  
Silence.  
  
"I will take it that he was alone. All right, you all stay right here, I'll go find him. I know exactly where he is."  
  
//Cooper, followed by cameras, goes through the front to the door. Outside is a bench, where Traize is sitting.//  
  
"You coming on in or taking the exemption?"  
  
"Taking the exemption."  
  
"Very well." //Cooper returns.//  
  
"Traize has elected to reduce the potential jackpot of the game by taking an exemption and not participating. The rest of you therefore must go on without him.  
  
"We'll start with a secret ballot on who you feel.well, which player you like the least. Here's paper and pens, and get to it."  
  
//a minute later, after a lot of scribbling//  
  
"Okay, that's eight votes for Wufei, two for Duo and one for Relena. I'll tell you how this is significant in a moment.  
  
"Each of you must pair up and tell the other of their favorite song, Then, one by one, each person must do their partner's favorite song on the karaoke machine. Wufei, you must do one of my favorite songs."  
  
"What if it's not on the machine?" asked Duo.  
  
"They're all on the machine as long as you use the song you told us is your favorite and the one listed as your favorite in the profiles all of you got."  
  
"What song is _your_ favorite?" asked Wufei.  
  
"You'll know when everyone pairs up, which everyone must do now. You got two minutes."  
  
The pairs are Cathy-Trowa, Heero-Duo, Hilde-Relena, Zechs-Lucretzia, and because there no one is left, Sally and Quatre. Wufei has to go with Cooper.  
  
Suddenly Wufei jumps up and backs away from Cooper. "No way. No way in hell I'm doing that song."  
  
"Which?" asked Trowa.  
  
"Oops, I Did It Again," said Cooper.  
  
"That's your favorite song?"  
  
"Now, we just said that to get the reaction out of Wufei here."  
  
"So I don't have to sing that? I got something else?" asked Wufei tentatively.  
  
"No. You have to do that one."  
  
"NO WAY IN HELL!"  
  
"Very well, don't shout. Now, the original jackpot was $24,000-two thousand a person-but now that Traize and Wufei are out, the maximum is $20,000. Each person who does their partner's song earns $2,000 for the group.  
  
"Now. Who wants to go first?"  
  
//personal interviews, mixed with shots of the players crooning songs.//  
  
Sally: "Why didn't Wufei just sing the song? We all knew he didn't want to. Everyone else in the bar would know it was just for weird kicks, so why not?"  
  
//Lucretzia is singing "Stairway to Heaven"//  
  
Lucretzia: "That song is too damn long. They can cut out "If there's a bustle in your hedgerow." And everything else before that."  
  
//Sally is singing "Pinch Me."//  
  
Sally: "Now that Traize has failed two easy missions-well, three, but that was the Shooter game when he got shot-I'm starting to get quite suspicious of him. Also, I've eliminated some names to keep myself from getting spread too thin-Heero, Zechs, and Lucretzia. Maybe Hilde and Quatre too; they really haven't done anything."  
  
//Sally going "pinch me, pinch me, 'cause I'm still aaaaaasleep, please God, telllll me, that I'm still aaasleep." Then, Heero singing Trust Company's "Downfall" and Duo singing Incubus's "Pardon Me."//  
  
Heero: "He wasn't a suspect before, but suddenly Traize has become at least a bit of a suspect, even if his sabotage was minor cash-wise and he did it for an exemption."  
  
//Cathy, Trowa, Hilde, and Relena sing their songs for the cameras. As Relena sings, The camera focuses on Traize, in the front row, with a beer in his hand.//  
  
Relena: "I wanted so bad to kick Traize in the ass for him not doing this. But I actually don't mind him much; when I was doing my worst, and when I was a puppet of OZ, he pulled through and took the reins of the world so I could rest." (Pause.) "If I see Wufei I'm kicking his ass."  
  
//Quatre has to sing Shania Twain, and Zechs the Dixie Chicks, but to their credit, both endure the songs and a total of $20,000 is earned.//  
  
"That was very good, folks, all of you save Traize and Wufei completed their songs. There is an additional thirty thousand in the pot, which now stands at $99,000. You guys have gone off to an excellent start. It may be even better for some of you if three volunteer for a special mission like the one just done. Your prize will be an additional ten thousand dollars."  
  
A murmur went through the group. "What do we have to sing?" asked Heero.  
  
"You'll be told when you are ready to go."  
  
"No thank you, I think I'll pass. I do not like the sound of that."  
  
"I will go," said Sally. "Just to show all the rest of you up. Come on you guys, how bad can it be?"  
  
"It can be so bad," said Hilde.  
  
"No it can't. Come on up, Relena."  
  
"Uh...okay..."  
  
"What if it's 'MacArthur Park'?" Hilde was going on. "What if it's 'A Horse With No Name'? What if it's 'Muskrat Love,' for Christ's sake?"  
  
Relena started to go back, but Sally grabbed her. "Even 'Muskrat Love' is worth five digits."  
  
For a moment there was silence, ended by Cooper. "So, is that it? We need three people, if we do not get them, then the mission is failed automatically."  
  
Tentatively Cathy stood up. "I'll go up."  
  
"Very well. If you sing the song to completion and do not leave the stage prematurely, then you will win the group ten thousand dollars. Go to the dressing room, find an outfit and head to the stage in five minutes."  
  
"Okay."  
  
//VO of Cooper: "The rest of the group splits from there, allowing one member to have a chance at the round's second exemption."//  
  
//shot of Cooper with Lucretzia.//  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"Well enough, considering I can't trust one of my friends."  
  
"There's a kid out there with failure on their mind, to be sure, but there is a little offering we would like to give to you. In a minute Sally, Relena and Cathy are going to the stage in the mission, and will go through here on their way there. If you can rattle them enough to make at least one of then step off the stage, making the mission fail, you earn an exemption to the third round." Cooper looked at his watch. "Keep that in mind." He walked away.  
  
A moment later, the three participants walked up the way to the stage. "Good luck, girls," said Lucretzia. Then almost directly to Relena, "Don't embarrass yourself if you don't want to."  
  
//interview with Lucretzia//  
  
"I knew Relena would have trouble with this. I thought talking almost straight to her would increase my shot at an exemption."  
  
The three walked by Anderson. "The 'Hamtaro' theme song, you guys."  
  
"WHAT?" screamed Relena.  
  
It was far too late for her to turn back. The curtain was raised, and the almost hypnotic theme song began to play. Relena froze like a deer in the headlights. Cathy and Sally were able to do the little dance and sing the words, but Relena just stood there, feeling herself getting redder. At the halfway point she had enough, dashing off the stage before Sally could see her leave.  
  
"Okay, that's it. As you all saw, Relena left the stage before the song was over, costing the team ten grand. All of you, unwind, go back to the hotel, we'll have the second execution on tomorrow night."  
  
//shot of Relena hanging her head as personal interviews begin.//  
  
Heero: "She can sometimes be a little bit thin-skinned by some things. She can be psychologically tough, but this put her off. I'm not too surprised by her giving up."  
  
Sally: "It's not at all a long song. Maybe a minute. But she couldn't do it. Is it because she was too embarrassed or because she's the Mole?"  
  
Traize: "She didn't have to do the song if she didn't want to. It's just one of thirty-two missions. There's plenty of ways to earn money other than this."  
  
Lucretzia: "Well, I got my exemption, but I don't know if I did the right thing. Relena looked more dejected afterward than I thought she would."  
  
Relena: "Noin outdid me. She tried to play me for an exemption and she got one. But I don't get why. Only one out of twelve is leaving; is it worth the ten grand?"  
  
Wufei: "She did the right thing, I must admit. The name of the game is survival. An exemption is the most important thing of all other than knowing who the Mole is, and it's too early for that just yet."  
  
Relena: "You have to take others into account, not just you."  
  
//the execution dinner, the night after karaoke.//  
  
"Anyone afraid to leave?" Zechs was just finishing up.  
  
"I don't believe in fear." Heero took another bite of dessert.  
  
"I do," said Duo. "Now I hope that I'm on the right track. The exemption last round saved my ass. Dorothy should still be here."  
  
Relena raised her glass. "She isn't the most agreeable person...but a toast to Dorothy."  
  
"Toast."  
  
//interview with Duo.//  
  
"It is scary to know that your head was on the chopping block, but it got out at the last minute. If Heero had beaten me out of that first seat on Running of the Cars.don't even want to think about that."  
  
//the test. Duo is on, "Did the Mole play in the Grape Catching or Market Search game?"//  
  
Duo: "Relena can be such a perfect Mole, as she'd have no suspicion coming in. She's dome badly or too well almost every game."  
  
//Relena is on, "In which position was the Mole in while the group ate with the Grape Catching game still playing?" She clicks on "The Mole was still playing."//  
  
Relena: "Lucretzia got my attention during karaoke, but there's Trowa, Hilde, and Traize to look after as well, too."  
  
//Heero is on "In what place did the Mole sing in during Karaoke?"//  
  
Heero: "Wufei probably wouldn't have done this outside the game, either.but maybe that's what he wants us to think."  
  
//Hilde is on "Who is the Mole?"//  
  
Hilde: "Zechs, Traize, Lucretzia, Relena, Trowa, Duo...all have done suspicious behavior. You have to pick out the ones pretending to be the Mole and the real suspects."  
  
//the execution, in a clearing in the woods.//  
  
Cooper got the computer to the ready. "Tonight, you, as a group, face your second execution. As I type your name into the computer, the screen will flash green or red. Green means you advance to the third round, and red means you have become the Mole's second victim. Lucretzia and Traize have exemptions and are not eligible for execution. No point in waiting further, let us begin. Heero."  
  
Heero's name was typed into the computer. After a tense moment, the screen flashed green. He watched, then let out the breath he was holding.  
  
"Hilde." The German girl watch with concern as Cooper typed in her name, and breathed in relief to the green flash.  
  
"Trowa." He watched as Cooper typed in his name, and as Cathy put her hand on his. After a moment, the screen flashed green, and he gave a rare smile.  
  
"Wufei." He had his hands folded over his mouth for his moment, and he tensed himself for execution. However, the screen flashed green, and he relaxed.  
  
"Zechs." The former Lightning Count Stared anxiously at the screen. After a second, his name too flashed green. He gave no reaction at first, then leaned back and breathed.  
  
"Sally." She swallowed as she watched her name put into the computer. It also flashed green after a second. She turned to Wufei and gave him a bump. "Not bad, huh?"  
  
"Humph."  
  
"Quatre." He was chewing his collar, like a linen tobacco plug, and watched, gnawing, as the screen turned green for him too.  
  
"Well," said Anderson, "there are three left-Cathy, Duo, and Relena. Any volunteers?"  
  
"No chance in hell," said Traize. Nervous laughter was exchanged.  
  
"Okay.no volunteers?" Cooper looked around. "Then I shall continue in the original order. Cathy."  
  
She squeezed Trowa's hand hard, and squinted to just be able to see the screen. After a moment, the screen began to flash red. She gasped and closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she looked like she was close to crying.  
  
"I'm sorry, Cathy," said Cooper. She mournfully got up and Anderson took her bag to the waiting car.  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Lucretzia: "She was so enthusiastic on being on the show, ten times more than anyone else. Some of the excitement of coming will leave with her."  
  
Quatre: "You just couldn't dislike her. She was always happy, all the time."  
  
Heero: "She was real upset on leaving, much more so than Doro-chan. The latter seemed to expect it, but for Cathy, this hit her like a bunch of bricks."  
  
Relena: "Watching her go was terrible. She really wanted to stick around, and it was terrific to have met her, albeit she did not stay long at all."  
  
Cathy: "Well, that was a shocker. After all the times I saw the show on TV I thought I had it down. Whoever the Mole is, they have taught me a lesson here." (Breathes.) "Hopefully I'll stay in touch or watch the show, and be able to find out the Mole then."  
  
//Cathy rides off.//  
  
  
  
* In the most amusing situation of "The Mole 2: The Next Betrayal," three players had to make pizzas, which would be their dinner. None knew how to cook, so little was made. Darwin and Bill saw an ice cream stand afterward, and Bill-the Mole-was too happy to buy ice cream for the both of them. They were docked, I think, five grand, or $2,500 per Dove bar.  
  
You too can try to guess the Mole's identity! Take the ten question quiz:  
  
Did the Mole play in the Grape Catching or Market Search game?  
  
What did the Mole have to find in the Market Search game? (coffee/olive oil/eggplant/marmalade/lemons/peanuts/grapes/honey/strawberries/sugar/the Mole did not participate)  
  
Was the Mole successful in that game? (Y/N/Did Not Play)  
  
How many jugs of grapes did the Mole collect? (None/One/Two/Three/Four/Five/Six)  
  
Not including Noventa and Dermail, in which position was the Mole in while the group ate with the Grape Catching game still playing?" (direct left, which is Relena/ second from left, Heero/ third, Trowa/ fourth, Quatre/ fifth, Cathy/ sixth, Sally/ seventh, Wufei/ eighth, Zechs/ ninth, Traize/ direct to the right, Hilde.)  
  
Did the Mole earn an exemption during this round? (Y/N)  
  
In what order did the Mole sing in Karaoke? (first through tenth, then "Did Not Sing." They went in the order outlined above.)  
  
What did the Mole sing? (Dixie Chicks/Incubus/Trust Company/Lynard Skynard/Shania Twain/Barenaked Ladies/Staind (Cathy)/Backstreet Boys (Hilde)/Alanis Morisette (Trowa)/ K-Ci and Jo-Jo (Relena)  
  
Did the Mole attempt the second challenge in the Karaoke game? (Y/N)  
  
Who is the Mole? (Heero/Hilde/Trowa/Wufei/Lucretzia/Sally/Zechs/Quatre/Cathy/Duo/Relena/Traiz e)  
  
Postscript: I knew Bill was the Mole! But then, I had seen many of the hidden clues from other methods than seeing them as they aired, so I suppose I cheated a bit. I did guess that Dorothy (not to be confused with the executed Dorothy Caledonia from this show) would win, so I figure I'm one-for-one here. 


	3. Mole Games

The New Betrayal  
  
Daniel Ocean  
  
WARNING WARNING WARNING: I don't own Gundam Wing or The Mole, though I do admire both quality television shows. Also, I borrow some games from both seasons of The Mole and I do not attend to take credit for either of them. I don't want to have to say whether the game is original or not before each one so presume it is not. Enjoy!  
  
//host Anderson Cooper appears on the TV screen of hundreds of thousands of homes across the world and in the colonies.//  
  
"Welcome to the Mole. Thirteen players try to complete missions across Europe to gain money toward the pot. Money is gained as games are won, however, one amongst them is the Mole, a secret agent planted by the producers to foil the players. Up to one million dollars hinges on the question: Who is the Mole?  
  
//eleven images pop up, one by one, one for each contestant//  
  
Heero, 19, Army soldier, Sapporo, Japan  
  
Hilde, 18, Auto dealer, Munich, Germany  
  
Trowa, 19, Circus performer, St. Petersburg, FL  
  
Wufei, 19, Museum curator, Chongqing, China  
  
Lucretzia, 24, Test driver, Tucson, AZ  
  
Zechs, 25, Air Force Lieutenant, Pueblo, CO  
  
Sally, 22, Police officer, Preventers colony  
  
Quatre, 19, Musician/Art dealer, Alexandria, Egypt  
  
Duo, 19, Junk yard owner, L2 colony  
  
Relena, 20, Doctor, Birmingham, England  
  
Traize, 26, Appraiser, New York City, NY  
  
//the scene cuts to a map, showing the players in their newest location: Bordeaux, France. It is the morning after the second execution, Day Seven. It is after breakfast and most of the male players are wandering about, in no clear pattern. The four remaining players, however, are inside, planing to consolidate.//  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Relena: "If Cathy can go so quickly, any of us can go just as fast. We have to pull together to make sure we don't get into a six-against-two situation. It's already down to just four women-against seven guys."  
  
Hilde: "The plan now is to have all four of us in a large, loose coalition. Relena and myself will be in a full alliance, as will Lucretzia and Sally. We're going to try to even the numbers to four on four or three on three."  
  
//the scene switches to Sally and Lucretzia's room, with the caption "Coalition 2-Lucretzia and Sally//  
  
"We got to knock off someone first. Knowing who the Mole is at this point isn't top priority." Sally was in the top bunk, looking down at her new partner.  
  
"Agreed. Duo and I, though, determined that the Mole is probably either Trowa-kinda maybe-or in the other group, especially Relena. Hilde has been hanging in the shadows for a while now and maybe trying to blend into the surroundings."  
  
"No, I've already ruled out Trowa. From the start I decided not to vote for him, Heero, Dorothy, and Cathy. I don't want to be spread out too thin and not be able to eliminate anyone. And Dorothy and Cathy-"  
  
"Right. I see your reasoning. So, we have the others?"  
  
"I guess so."  
  
//interview with Sally.//  
  
"Not only do we have to work with Relena and Hilde, but he have to be weary of the fact that the two of them are main suspects. We can't let them be partner in a game unsupervised. The coalitions will make sure we can keep a close eye on them."  
  
//switch to the lobby, with the caption "Coalition 3-Relena and Hilde.//  
  
"Zechs has had some suspicious behavior, don't you think? Messing up the Running With the Cars and almost flubbing the Market Search." Hilde was lying on the couch, and Relena was sitting in a nearby chair, giving the feeling of patient and psychiatrist. Hilde looked over to Relena. "He started awful that game and then recovered too well."  
  
"Right. Right. Duo and Lucretzia did badly in that easy grape game, also, so don't count them out."  
  
"And Lucretzia got in the right order for the first game."  
  
//interview with Relena//  
  
"I guess Lucretzia and Zechs are our top two suspects right about now. It's tricky to have a coalition and not trust other members, but as long as its pairs stay together, I think we'll be okay."  
  
//the eleven players get together with Cooper for their next game(s)//  
  
"Okay." It was early October, but the sun was pouring down, and everyone, including the host, were dressed for the middle of summer. "For you today, we have a pair of missions, five in one mission and six for the other." He had with him the laptop used for execution; he opened a program and an image of a tall hill, with five bicycles at the bottom, popped up on the screen. "This is one mission. Right now, I want you to figure out who wants to do this mission, and who wants to take a chance with the other game, which will not be revealed until the ones playing that arrive to where they got to be. You got fifteen seconds. Hurry, hurry, as fast as you can, you can't catch me-ah, forget it."  
  
//shot of the players scrambling into two groups. Hilde pulls Quatre and Relena to the bike mission and Traize and Zechs pull Heero to the mystery mission. VO of Quatre//  
  
"I don't want to anything that is unknown. I mean, as hard as uphill cycling is, I don't want to be caught getting chased by wild boars or any other hell like that."  
  
"All right," said the host finally. "It's Relena, Duo, Quatre, Hilde, and Sally cycling, and I suppose the rest of you will go on our mystery mission. Those six, hop in the van, the producer will tell you where to go. The rest of you, come with me."  
  
//interview with Sally//  
  
"Being in the cycling group will let me watch many suspects at once, including Relena at number one, and it'll increase the odds of winning because other than Duo, the other four aren't the strongest people here."  
  
//Cooper and the other players are at the foot of a San-Francisco-style hill. Each player has a bike.//  
  
"Each of you will ride up this hill for five blocks. It is level in some places, and near the halfway point it goes downhill just a little, but most of the way it's going up." Cooper handed out keys. "There will be a locked blue cooler in the middle of the downhill section, containing wine, cheese, jam, scones, and napkins. Each of you must decide what to take, and continue to ride up to a house at the top with flags. There, you will call back down and the next person will go up.  
  
"Do all that in an hour and you get $40,000. If all but one of you make it, it's $20,000, and if three out of five make it, it's $5,000. Oh, and you'll have to tell me what you're taking up the hill, and you must take that to the house, or else your ride will be in vain. So, who's going first and who's doing what?"  
  
Hilde offered to be last and bring the jam. Relena said she'd be next to last and get the cheese. Sally said she would go "in the top two" and take the wine, and Duo said he'd take the other top two spot and take the scones ("Man, I fell weird saying that." "Why? It's a perfectly good word."). Quatre was left with third and the napkins.  
  
"Who's first-Duo or Sally?" asked Cooper.  
  
"Ladies first, I guess." Duo hopped on his bike anyway, so he could sit as he waited.  
  
"All right, Sally, your time starts now."  
  
Sally started up the hill, drifting from side to side as she pumped the pedals to keep her speed up on the hard slope. She dodged a tourist and two local Frenchman, and soon was out of site, somewhere deep in the crowd.  
  
//VO of Cooper: "Meanwhile, a few miles away...//  
  
The van pulls up to a secluded field outside of Bordeaux. Waving to the players are Goku, Gohan, Eighteen and Krillan from Dragonball Z. Someone in the van says, "Holy sh*t, we have to go up against all of them?"  
  
Everyone gets out and the four are there to greet them. "Welcome to the Fencing Challenge," says Goku. He points over to a wooden structure, with posts and horizontal wooden bars going across. "The six of you will try to put up as much as that fence, starting at one end, as we here will try to build it from the other end. There's thirty-eight spots, and to win, you must fill twenty with your fence, without any gaps. Doing that adds thirty grand to the pot."  
  
Krillan nudged Eighteen. "I'm amazed he could remember all of that so clearly."  
  
"You've got five minutes to plan out strategy, and then we begin."  
  
The players huddled up.  
  
"We better get into some sort of a rotation. That way, we don't get into each other's way," suggested Lucretzia.  
  
"Right," said Zechs. "The fastest should be near the top so they do more. I guess me, Traize, Heero, Noin, uh, Wufei, and Trowa, don't you think?"  
  
"Sounds good enough."  
  
"All right, let's rock."  
  
//VO of Cooper: "Meanwhile, in town..."//  
  
Sally hurriedly opened up the cooler, and pulled off the top. There was everything the host described, and a cell phone and a message in an envelope. Sally opened it and read:  
  
"Hello, player, if you do not wish to continue, just take your item and call 555-4321. You will be driven the rest of the way up the hill, and you will not be included in the count afterward. You will receive one exemption."  
  
Sally took the wine and closed the cooler, leaving the phone and the message inside.  
  
//interview with Sally//  
  
"I was pretty confident I could move up to the next round, exemption or not. I wanted to let someone else sabotage the game, anyway."  
  
//various shots of Sally going up, and then arriving at the house, in a total, bottom to top, of eleven minutes. She walks into the house, wine in hand.//  
  
Sally peered around corners, eventually making it into the dining room. "Why, hello, you two," she said to two familiar faces.  
  
Howard and Une stood to greet her. "You know," said Howard, the elderly mechanic, "not everyone was invited o play this game." He quickly got a cell phone and typed in a number. "She's here and she's got the wine."  
  
//switch of scene, to Cooper answering the hone//  
  
"All right." He hung up. "Time for you to go, Duo."  
  
"'Kay." The Gundam tore up the hill, speeding to the cooler in just four minutes. His ride was not as well-documented as Sally's, but he was shown grabbing the scones and leaving, not paying any heed to the phone or message.  
  
He pedaled to the house. As soon as he got in, Howard was waiting. "Wow! Nine minutes! Great time! I'll call for Quatre."  
  
//scene switches to the Fencing Challenge, which has already begun. The two teams look about even. There is a close up of Wufei hammering home a board, and another shot to the right shows Goku hammering a board in, after clearing his stepping spot of debris. Interview with Heero.//  
  
"Their smaller numbers gave them less of a chance of bumping into each other, but they had to work with unleveled, pebbly ground. We had a little bit of an easier way with it.  
  
//the scene is sped up to a point so that each team has about half of its half finished. The score is tied, 10-10, then the players go up one, however, just a few seconds later, Eighteen hammers in the eleventh DBZ board and the score is again tied.//  
  
Trowa looked in both directions. "Uhh, who's turn is it?"  
  
"Yours!" screams Lucretzia.  
  
"Oops!" Trowa took up his hammer and got to work, but wasted a few precious seconds. The green board slipped out of his fingers, and he had fallen behind, even though he hammered the board in quickly as soon as he got it back together. He finished a split-second before Gohan for the twelfth board, leaving the players at a disadvantage. In the event of a tie they would walk away penniless.  
  
//back to the cycling game//  
  
Quatre, in six and a half minutes, had reached the cooler halfway up the hill. He reached for the napkins, then saw the exemption offer and its envelope. He put it down, and then grabbed what he thought was the message and headed off to the house at the top of the hill.  
  
//he makes it to the top of the hill. A caption at the bottom of the screen reads, "33.5/60 minutes elapsed."//  
  
He ran into the house. "Guys! Guys! I'm here!" He saw Une and ran over to her, napkins held high. She ushered him in and the third of the group had made it in.  
  
"All right, Qu-man, you're here." Duo took the napkins and tossed them to the middle of the dining room table.  
  
"Got the exemption notice, too."  
  
"What exemption notice?"  
  
"Oh, really?" Sally knew what he meant. "Keep it out; let the Mole sabotage the game with it."  
  
"Still-forty grand might have been saved." Quatre grabbed the piece of paper he had swiped. "Here you are." He looked at it as he handed it to sally, and he paused at it halfway to her. Sally as well looked at what Quatre had.  
  
"Quatre, that's the envelope," said Une finally.  
  
//back at the Fencing Challenge, with a VO of Lucretzia//  
  
"We really picked up the pace after Trowa flubbed up the board he had to bring in. Zechs, Heero and Traize made up a lot of time with fast work."  
  
//The score is shown as Players 17, DBZ 15. The game is sped up to get to the conclusion to a game that is rather monotonous to viewers. Gohan knocked a board in to cut the lead to one, but Trowa hammered quickly to bring the Players back to two up. Goku got DBZ within one as Zechs is halfway done with his board. Zechs finishes as Krillan is half done with his. When Krillan is done, Eighteen hurriedly works to try to get the last board in, but Heero beats him to the last spot.//  
  
"Okay, all thirty-eight are in. You guys needed twenty or more boards to win, and you got exactly twenty. Congratulations, you have won thirty thousand dollars for the pot."  
  
//the six players celebrate, throwing their hammers in the air, narrowly missing their own boards. Gohan picks up a hammer, board, and nails to tie the score and deny the players money if one of their own is knocked off, but all of the thrown objects miss.//  
  
//the scene switches to Relena, on the way up the hill. She is almost halfway there; forty minutes have elapsed since the beginning of the game.//  
  
Relena pulled to a stop as well as she could next to the cooler; she tapped the brake a little too hard and almost went flying over the handlebars. She got out her key, opened the cooler, and dug in, scooping up a wheel of cheddar. She noticed the exemption notice, after leafing through, she put it back inside and closed the cooler.  
  
//interview with Relena//  
  
"I thought that I had a good read on the Mole, so I didn't need the exemption. Only one out of eleven was going to go at the end of the round. And forty thousand dollars are a lot better than twenty thousand."  
  
//shots of her making up the hill. As she tires, she leans over the handlebars and tries to pump the pedals harder.//  
  
She makes it up the hill in seven more minutes. As she reached the top, she kept going, almost pedaling into the house. She stumbled in to the house. "Hi there-oh, you don't look so good." Duo was there in the kitchen, at the front, snacking on a scone. He helped her to the living room, and she half-laid and half-collapsed onto the sofa. "She's here!"  
  
"We know, we know," said Une, the phone at her ear. "We got it taken care of."  
  
Hilde was off. "Come on there," said Cooper. "Make the most of your time. You aren't left with a lot of it. Go quickly."  
  
"Right, I know." She spun once around Cooper to build up speed, and headed up to the hill. She kept her speed up for about a half of a block, then started to slow down. She was off, albeit slowly.  
  
//shots of Hilde making it up the hill, as far as the cooler//  
  
Hilde reached for the key in her pocket, then dropped it on the pavement. After having a bit of trouble trying to pick it up, she was able to get up and stick the key into the lock. The first thing she saw when the cooler popped open was the exemption offer. She looked at it, then her watch, then got out the cell phone.  
  
//interview with Hilde//  
  
"There was no way that I would have been able to make it up the hill in time to get all of the money. It took me seven minutes to get to the cooler, and I would have been stuck on the way up to the end. Might as well take the exemption, and get something instead of nothing."  
  
//the caption reads "59 minutes elapsed" as the car to carry her the rest of the way up the hill pulls in. As soon as she climbs in and slams the door, the caption becomes "Mission failed."  
  
A few minutes later, Cooper is with all of the players, including Hilde.//  
  
"Well," said Cooper, "almost all of you made it up the hill. The last member in the relay, Hilde, felt that there was not enough time to make it u the hill to complete the mission, so she took an exemption and saved herself part of a bike ride. You guys earned $20,000 for this mission. Additionally, the team on the mystery mission has been playing, trying to build a fence faster than four characters from "Dragonball Z." //shot of a grimace from Relena.// "Fortunately, they succeeded, and they won an additional $30,000 for the pot. You'll go back to the hotel now and you guys have the rest of the day off."  
  
//shots of the two groups reuniting at the hotel. The Fencing team, having had much of the afternoon to rest, look okay, but all of the Cycle team members are sweaty and tired. Relena immediately goes to bed. Hilde goes to her bed and stares at the ceiling, even though she had just half a ride.  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Duo: "I'm getting more suspicious of Quatre after the envelope incident. I mean, how can you get the envelope and not get the message? Did he think he had both? Very weird."  
  
Sally: "Hilde get the exemption instead of going on up the mountain. She still might of had a shot. She had a chance, if she had a car-lifting adrenaline thing."  
  
Zechs: "It's hard to see any Mole activity in the fencing game. Trowa slipped up, though possibly out of being rushed. But the others failed, and we didn't get to see how."  
  
Trowa: "I know the fence thing incriminates me. Hopefully, someone will think I am the Mole and reduce the competition a bit, so I can take a look at everything so far and start to narrow my list."  
  
Relena: "Trowa is a new candidate, as is Hilde. But Zechs and Quatre are on the top of my list. I'll have to hover over all of them and try to keep the coalition with Hilde alive, so I can keep an eye on them all at once. I'm going to look for a second coalition to make this easier."  
  
//the next day. Cooper has rounded up all the players, and all of them are being driven to a small soccer (football for Europeans) field in town. All are in identical jerseys, except for Relena, who has been marooned in goal. When they arrive, Cooper brings out a soccer ball and tells everyone to get out of the van.  
  
"All right, players, welcome to your tenth game as a group, and the last of the third round. This game is just a simple game of soccer with a team that is very good. Most of the rules are suspended or replaced with simpler rules. There has to be four defenders, who say on their half of the field, three forwards, who stay on the other side, and three midfielders who can go anywhere. And then the goalie, who can wander wherever she wants to go. There's soccer balls here, and you have two hours to prepare for the 20-minute game. This mission is worth $35,000 for a win, or $10,000 for a draw. Good luck."  
  
//shots of players kicking balls around. Quatre is ten yards from the goal, and tries to hit it into the empty net, but misses. Wufei calls him an onna and tries from the same spot. It sails over the goal and into a parking lot. Many other players have similar troubles.  
  
//interview with Lucretzia.//  
  
"Well, it's official-we suck. Quatre can't get it through, Wufei can't get it through, Hilde can't get it through, I can't get it through...about as doomed as we can be."  
  
//Cooper is shouting through a loudspeaker//  
  
"Okay, team, your two hours are up. Go to your positions, the team is here."  
  
//interviews//  
  
Relena: "We look over to a road, and a van pulls up, and out comes eleven ten-year-olds, all in uniform, all ready to go." (laughs) "They were all so cuts, then the game started-ooh, they weren't so cute when the kicks of fury come out."  
  
Heero: "We found out later that they were the all-star ten-year-old team. And the French won the World Cup in...'97? '98? Sometime recent. And they were good." //shot of Hilde getting the ball stolen by her by a kid who goes all the way to score a goal.// "They were so small it was hard to catch them. We could have tackled them, but they were pretty fast, and I couldn't take care of all of them."  
  
//circus music plays as the game begins//  
  
//shot of Relena having ball after ball blow on by her.//  
  
//shot of Zechs getting burned on defense.//  
  
//shot of Quatre accidentally knocking the ball into his own goal.//  
  
//shot of the score at half-time: The Mole 5, All-Stars 0//  
  
//shot of Cooper cheering his contestants on//  
  
//shot of Traize doing a wicked move to get a clear shot at the goal...and losing his balance and falling down, right in front of the goal, with the goalie snapping the ball up and tossing it upfield.//  
  
//shot of an All-Star taking a shot from mid-field...and getting a goal.//  
  
//Cooper blowing the ending whistle, the game over. Final score: All-Stars 8, The Mole 3//  
  
//the execution dinner, that night. All, as usual, are dressed their best. As they discuss the game so far, there is a VO of Traize.//  
  
"Soccer, to Americans, is a thoroughly foreign sport. I like to use my hands instead of just kicking the ball around. Back and forth and back and forth and I takes forever for there to be a goal." (Pause.) "Or once team just demolishes the other and it looks really really bad."  
  
//from their dinner, the contestants are driven to a cemetery outside the city. Everyone looks ghoulishly at row upon row of graves on all sides.//  
  
"You think Anderson and the others are trying to send a message?" asked Duo. He shifted uneasily.  
  
Lucretzia welcomed the chance to look away from the graves. "No doubt. There must be thousands and thousands of bodies here."  
  
//the drive through the cemetery to a clearing just outside of it, for the first outdoor quiz and execution.//  
  
//Relena is taking the test, on the question, "Which game did the Mole play on Day Seven-the Fencing Challenge or the Cycle Relay?"//  
  
Relena: "There was a lot of suspicious behavior during the relay, almost by everyone. It's almost certain that the Mole played in that game."  
  
//Quatre is on, "How old is the Mole?//  
  
Quatre: "Traize has done little to catch my attention as the Mole, so the Mole probably isn't in the top end of the age bracket. I'm going to guess that it is someone younger-Relena and Hilde, and to some extent, Trowa, have all been acting up."  
  
//Trowa is on, "Where did the Mole play during the Soccer game?//  
  
Trowa: "Traize's tumble is what I saw as possible Mole activity. It's the one thing that sticks out in my mind."  
  
//execution time!//  
  
"Here we are again," said Cooper. "There is fifty thousand more dollars in the pot from the missions this round, for a total of $149,000. However, tonight, one more of you must leave the show.  
  
"I will type each player's name into the computer; if the screen flashes green, you are safe, however, if it flashes red, then you have become the Mole's third victim.  
  
"Let's start with Duo."  
  
His name was typed into the computer, and it was cleared. He smiled weakly.  
  
"Sally." The officer's name went in, and when it came back out green, she gave a rather large reaction in relief.  
  
"Wufei." This former Gundam's name went in, but unlike his former ally, he got the red screen. He winced momentarily, but resumed his neutral look on his face and quietly got up to take the walk to the waiting limo.  
  
//interviews.//  
  
Heero: "Well, back during the war, I saw no one who could match the will to win I had other than Wufei. He has a fierce competitor who would have done anything for the jackpot. He was a noble opponent, even if he stayed a short while."  
  
Wufei: "I must say that I was disappointed. I was sure that I could go farther, I thought that I could have won the pot at the end. But I suppose not. Hopefully, a noble player will win the pot now. If Duo wins, then the onna is going to be chased all the way back to Missouri."  
  
//Wufei rides off//  
  
You too can take the ten-question quiz. Do you have what it takes to spot the Mole?  
  
Is the Mole in an coalition? (No/Yes, one coalition/Yes, multiple coalitions)  
  
What did the mole play on Day Seven? (Fencing/Cycle Relay)  
  
In what order did the Mole cycle? (First/Second/Third/Fourth/Fifth/The Mole was in the fencing game)  
  
What did the Mole bring to the house on the hill? (Cheese/Wine/Scones/Jam/Napkins/Did Not Play)  
  
How many posts did the Mole hammer into the fence during the Fencing game? (None or one/Two or Three/Four or five/At least six)  
  
Did the Mole complete their mission? (Y/N)  
  
How old is the Mole? (19 or under/20 or 21/22 or 23/24 or older)  
  
What did the Mole play during the Soccer game? (Goalie/Defense/Midfielder/Offense) (Hilde, Quatre, Trowa, and Duo were on defense, Heero, Zechs and Lucretzia were midfielders, and Wufei, Traize and Sally were on offense)  
  
Did the Mole score a goal? (Y/N) (Only Traize and Wufei did, the third goal was an own-goal by an All-Star.)  
  
Who is the Mole? (Heero/Hilde/Trowa/Wufei/Lucretzia/Zechs/Sally/Quatre/Duo/Relena/Traize) 


	4. The Mole's Prison

The New Betrayal  
  
Daniel Ocean  
  
WARNING: I own NOTHING in this chapter. Well, okay, I own the teddy-bear game, but nothing else but that.  
  
  
  
//host Anderson Cooper appears on the TV screen of hundreds of thousands of homes across the world and in the colonies.//  
  
"Welcome to the Mole. Thirteen players try to complete missions across Europe to gain money toward the pot. Money is gained as games are won, however, one amongst them is the Mole, a secret agent planted by the producers to foil the players. Up to one million dollars hinges on the question: Who is the Mole?  
  
//ten pictures, one of each remaining contestant, pops up on the screen//  
  
Heero, 19, Army soldier, Sapporo, Japan  
  
Hilde, 18, Auto dealer, Munich, Germany  
  
Trowa, 19, Circus performer, St. Petersburg, FL  
  
Lucretzia, 24, Test driver, Tucson, AZ  
  
Zechs, 25, Air Force Lieutenant, Pueblo, CO  
  
Sally, 22, Police officer, Preventers colony  
  
Quatre, 19, Musician/Art dealer, Alexandria, Egypt  
  
Duo, 19, Junk yard owner, L2 colony  
  
Relena, 20, Doctor, Birmingham, England  
  
Traize, 26, Appraiser, New York City, NY  
  
//it cuts to a map of Europe, which eventually zoomed in to their Day Nine location: near Tours, France. The Mole hunters are eating a nutritious breakfast at a large roundtable, with pancakes, eggs, fruit, bagels, e cetera-good stuff like that. I like to make sure that my characters are well fed.//  
  
"This is pretty pleasant," said Relena. She sighed contentedly. It was October, but it was fairly mild. The trees all had their leaves, which were starting to yellow, and the birds were still singing. She took a pitcher of maple syrup and poured a liberal amount not only on her pancakes, but onto her toast as well. "Oops."  
  
"Relena, don't tempt the fates," said Sally.  
  
"Nothing can ruin this."  
  
Anderson Cooper walked in from behind a column. Duo screamed. "Relena! Look at what you've done!"  
  
"Hello folks," said the host. "It's very nice to see you are all expecting me and happy to see me."  
  
"We have a game right now?" For the first time in the trip Trowa had spoken with some emotion. "Wait. I'm only halfway through breakfast."  
  
"Don't worry, you have ten minutes before the mission and you get to do it right here at the table. Just make sure that you have your journal with you when I get back. The Mole' sabotages are starting to add up now; there is no time to spare." Anderson reached over and took a sliced bagel. "See you then."  
  
Cooper walked away. There was silence for a few seconds, ended by Relena taking the pitcher of syrup and pouring it directly into her mouth. She drank for a few seconds, then put it down and went face-first into her plate, with an audible splat.  
  
"Sad," said Quatre.  
  
Relena got her head up, a piece of toast stuck to her forehead. "Nine days. An execution or a game every single day. We need a rest."  
  
Hilde patted her on the soldier. "I'm sure we'll get the rest of the way off. Now go flutter off to the restroom and clean up and get ready for the journal game." She watched her start off. "Don't forget that piece of toast."  
  
  
  
//ten minutes later//  
  
"Very good, all of you are ready to go. This is called, aptly, the Journal Game, and the rules are so simple that I want you guys to do a few things for me before we get started.  
  
"First, get into alphabetical order."  
  
They all did without any incident. "Now, I want you to open up the journal and make sure that you have not placed your name within." This took only a second. "Now, pass your journals three spaces to the left."  
  
//passing to left means passing the journal up the alphabet, so Duo's journal was passed via Heero and Hilde to Lucretzia. The scene switches to a bird's eye view, with the journal owner's name over the new possessors.// "Switch with the person directly across from you."  
  
Relena was a little small to get it cleanly to Duo, but no major hitches. "Now I want Duo and Lucretzia to switch. Then Lucretzia and Sally, and Relena and Hilde."  
  
//all of the alliances switch. The birds-eye view shows the confusion from above.//  
  
"Now I want the Gundam pilots who together total five to switch."  
  
"Uh..." After a second, Duo and Trowa switched, as did Heero and Quatre.  
  
"Pass the journals two more positions to the left." //shown from the bird's eye shot// "Now I want every left handed player to switch with the player to their left."  
  
Hilde gasped in exasperation. Trowa, a southpaw, switched with Zechs, as did Relena giving to Sally.  
  
"The two wealthiest players, switch." It was convenient, Relena and Quatre were right next to each other.  
  
"Now, if the lefties will switch. Good. Now, the last move, move your journals another two spaces to the left." //Duo's journal now is in the hands of Quatre, Heero's was with Lucretzia, Hilde's was with Heero, Lucretzia's was with Sally, Quatre's was with Zechs, Relena's was with Hilde, Sally's was with Relena, Traize's was with Duo, Trowa still had his own journal, and Zechs's was with Traize. If you thought it was tedious reading that, think of me trying to figure it all out.//  
  
"All right. Read as much of the journal that you want, and I'll be back in a minute."  
  
The host again walked out. "That's all?" asked Hilde. "He's abandoning us again?"  
  
There was no response. Everyone was reading, figuring out what someone else had said about them. "Hey!" said Duo. "Who said that I was annoying?"  
  
Cooper returned. "All right. Before we begin, Trowa, name a teammate of yours."  
  
"Relena."  
  
"All of you will be trying to tell me whose journal you have. Each correct answer is worth five thousand dollars. However, after all of that switching, Trowa would up getting his journal again. Relena, therefore, will be playing for not only her share, but also Trowa's.  
  
"Duo, why don't you start."  
  
He flipped open the journal and read, at the top of the first line, "'Good journal...' Hmm. I would say that this was once the journal of...Relena."  
  
"That...is not the correct answer. Next is you, Heero."  
  
He flipped though the sparse notes and read, 'Relena is a fine person. An okay ally, if I never really faced her. But she could really very well be the Mole. Let me count the ways...' I'd say this sounds like Duo. Short too."  
  
"That is also not the correct answer. Now you, Hilde."  
  
She flipped in to find the top line of one entry, "Dear Dorothy..." The next: "Dear Cathy..." The third: Wufei.  
  
"Huh." Hilde flipped a little bit more in. "I would say that this is from Relena."  
  
"That...is the correct answer. Lucretzia."  
  
"'The mission is to find the Mole and neutralize,'" she read aloud. "Sounds like everyone's favorite perfect soldier, Heero."  
  
"That is also the correct answer. Now, Quatre."  
  
He glanced inside. "'Dorothy, then Cathy, and then Wufei. Interesting choices for the Mole. Or maybe the Mole isn't that great of one. Cathy's the only player that could have been okay.' It could be anyone. Uh, Sally, I'll say."  
  
"That is not the correct answer. Okay, now it is Relena's turn. This is for ten grand."  
  
She read out loud, "'The Mole is creative. Behind people's cheesy sabotages, he or she really has put up brilliant plans that just don't get noticed all that much. The girl's coalition should help out, but maybe I can fly solo. Who knows? Not I-yet.'"  
  
She closed it loudly. "I'd say it's Lucretzia's."  
  
"That...is not the correct answer. Sally, now you."  
  
"This was a giveaway," she said. She opened up to a dog-eared page. "'My coalition with Sally'...nothing else matters. This is Lucretzia's journal."  
  
"That is the correct answer. Traize."  
  
"Mine was blank except for each page, there was notes for one player. Looked like something from Trowa."  
  
"That...is not the correct answer. Finish us off, Zechs."  
  
He opened his and read aloud, "'It was so tough to see Miss Cathy go, her enthusiasm was so great...it'll drag all of us down...'" He closed it again. "Relena's been found, so it must be Quatre's."  
  
"That is correct. You guys got four out of ten shares, for $20,000. Now you have the rest of the day off. Also, the journals you have right now are the ones that you will have for the rest of the trip. Trowa, you retain yours. The rest of you may right your name into your new journals, if you wish. Have a nice day."  
  
//interviews//  
  
Sally: "I wrote copious notes. I wrote enough for a novel already! And now Anderson is telling us that we lose it all for a little game and twenty grand...well, all right, the money is nice. But I'd have a better chance with my old journal."  
  
Relena: "Sally's journal was nice. Very thorough. Maybe this could get me a couple of rounds farther in the game otherwise."  
  
//shot of the players out on sightseeing in Tours. The players are wondering aimlessly about town, in shifts of five apiece. The shift-system makes the players suspicious, and for one of them, the suspicions are confirmed.//  
  
//Anderson is shown knocking on a hotel room door.//  
  
"Room service."  
  
"Right." Trowa walked out, pointy hair first. "I'm not doing a mission."  
  
"It is very simple, not physically rigorous and will be done in five minutes-for an exemption."  
  
Trowa was silent, as usual. Cooper just went on. "You will have to sneak into Relena's room, take her teddy bear, Heeko, and bring it back to me. You may use someone to assist you. If you are caught, you do not get the exemption even if you get the bear to me. You have one hour starting now."  
  
Trowa went back into the room, to consider.  
  
//interview with Trowa.//  
  
"Relena was in my shift and was at the hotel when I was. It would be tricky."  
  
//shot of Trowa walking down the hall, passing Zechs, and asking, "What's your sister's room?" After getting the answer, he heads off, arriving at the room Zechs told him. (The room number doesn't matter.) Trowa knocks on the door.//  
  
Trowa looked over his shoulder. He wasn't nervous-his years as a Gundam pilot had eliminated that emotion-but he didn't want to be asked why he was carrying a teddy bear.  
  
Especially by Duo.  
  
He waited a few seconds. After being satisfied that no one was in the room, he turned the handle and opened the door. It opened a couple of inches, and then there was a loud bonk. "Ow! That hurt!" Relena opened the door the rest of the way, rubbing her forehead.  
  
"Oh, uh, hi there."  
  
"Hi, Trowa." She looked up. "What are you doing here?"  
  
"Uh...I was just asking if I could see your itinerary for the trip. I lost mine and I can't remember when the next execution is."  
  
"Oh." Relena went back into her room and stayed there for a moment. She came back out with a piece of paper. "You know they don't tell us when there are missions, but here are the times and days of all of the executions."  
  
"Thank you." Trowa went off. It was going to be harder than he thought. He was going to need an assistant. He passed one of his fellow Gundam pilots. "Hey, Duo, I need your help with something. For a little bit of cash for the pot."  
  
"Sure. What do you want me to do?"  
  
  
  
Relena was relaxing, for once. The previous week had been a little stressful, with the game going on. Also, losing her journal was a loss, but a small one-she got an upgrade in the manner of Sally's journal.  
  
Right by her window, a car sputtered and growled, then began to cough.  
  
She pushed open the curtains and lifted the window, to see a sedan by her window, with the hood up. "Hey, sorry about that." Duo peeped up. "I'm just trying to see the problem. Sounds a little dead, I think it needs a new spark plug."  
  
"RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW?"  
  
"Anywhere else that's better?" Duo palmed another spark plug with his rubber gloved hand, making the engine louder and more sputtery. (WARNING: Handling spark plugs from a running motor is dangerous. Don't even think about trying this at home.)  
  
"How about the parking lot?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"HOW ABOUT THE PARKING LOT?"  
  
"WHAT?"  
  
Trowa was but a few feet behind Relena in her room, rummaging through her stuff. Under her backpack he found a small brown teddy bear-the one that Heero gave her at the end of Episode 49. (Remember?) He grabbed it and dashed out, to avoid detection and avoid Duo shouting "WHAT? WHAT? I CAN'T HEAR YOU RELENA! WHAT? WHAT? WHAT?"  
  
  
  
After Trowa had asked Zechs for instructions, the Lightning Baron had an idea of his own. He made his way to a random room and knocked on the door. He thought the best of it, said, "Never mind," and went to his room for something.  
  
He came back to the same room and knocked on the door. After Quatre had opened the door, Zechs held up his bottle of wine and said, "We need to protect ourselves from coalitions. The drinking age here is low, we just need a couple of glasses..." a loud engine flared up, and both could hear someone screaming. After grimacing, "C'mon, why not a coalition?"  
  
Quatre obliged.  
  
Why wouldn't he? //a caption on the screen, "Coalition 4, Quatre and Zechs"//  
  
In a couple of hours, Quatre had four glasses if wine. For the slim pilot, it was enough to make him intoxicated. Just as Zechs had wanted. "You want to know something?" he said.  
  
"What, friend?"  
  
"Would you believe me if I said I was the Mole?"  
  
"Not with that hair." He giggled drunkenly.  
  
"Seriously."  
  
"I suppose."  
  
"Okay, that's fine." Zechs took his bottle and started away. "Just believe, Quatre."  
  
"Hey, wait up there. I want you to fill up my glass. Zechs? Aren't you going to? Zechs? Zechs? C'mon, coalition member person, I want some more..."  
  
  
  
//the next day. Cooper has all of the players lined up in the parking lot, in front of two sedans. Neither is the one Duo mangled the day before.//  
  
"Again, I would like you guys to break up into two groups. The dark green sedan will take you to a mental challenge, and the red one will take you to a physical challenge. Details will be available when you arrive, and I will go with the physical group. You have fifteen seconds, starting now."  
  
//Relena, Traize, Zechs, Quatre, and Heero elect to go to the mental game. Sally, Noin, Trowa, Duo, and, much to her dismay, Hilde go to the physical challenge. The shot goes first to the mental challenge players, where they have pulled to a hotel in town. Tenchi from his series of shows comes out to greet the players.//  
  
"Hello, you guys," he said. "Welcome to the Super Breakout game. This is a game normally played by three players, but it has been expanded to five. In a minute, all five of you will be blindfolded and lead to rooms here in the hotel. You will be locked into your rooms, and all five of you will have to escape within thirty minutes. Success earns $40,000. Even if one of you is still in your room at that time means you earn nothing. In a minute, you will be blindfolded and lead to your room, where a buzzer will tell you to begin."  
  
//shot on the other side of town, where the other five players are with Cooper.//  
  
"This game is called the Triathlon. Before we begin, I want one of you who you feel is less physical than the others."  
  
They quickly elect Hilde, and off she goes with Cooper. A short distance away, Cooper explains the rules: "You will have to select who will win, who will be in second, who'll be in third and the loser. Upon the winner, you will bet $12,000, on the runner up $8,000 and on third place $5,000. On each one you get right, you earn the money for the pot. You have five minutes to pick your order."  
  
He returned to the rest of the group, and explained the rules. He added, at the end, "You won't be told the order, you'll have to guess how you do. The events are a hundred-yard swim, a three-mile cycle leg and a mile run. You'll begin in five or six minutes."  
  
//back at the hotel.//  
  
In Room 213, Zechs had nothing except for a light bulb. There was no bulb in the chandelier above, and the room had blackout curtains covering window painted black. A key was taped to the wall.  
  
In Room 214, Traize only had a carrot and an exercise bicycle.  
  
In Room 215, Relena had just some sheet music, for "Mary Had a Little Lamb." In one corner, a cell phone was tucked under the carpet, accessible but not obvious.  
  
In Room 216, Heero was in complete darkness like Zechs, al a blackout curtain, but a key was taped to the ceiling. A pole with a hook was also in the room.  
  
In Room 217, Quatre had a xylophone.  
  
A buzz was sounded, and the five players removed their blindfolds. All of them looked around in the room, thinking that there might be more, but all discovered that their sparse supplies were all they were going to get. A few minutes in, Traize discovered that his bike was powering one other room. With his pedaling, Heero's light bulb was powered. He found the key on the ceiling and peeled the key off of the ceiling, freeing him. He barged out into the hallway, almost running over Tenchi.  
  
"Gahhhh..." Tenchi spun but stayed on his feet. "Look out there."  
  
"Uh, sorry."  
  
"Anyway, now that you're free, you get a clue as to how to free the next person. This is your clue: 'The musician's music is a powerful thing.' Got it?"  
  
"Yes, in fact I do." Heero banged on rooms 213 and 214 at the same time. "Either of you got any music?"  
  
"No."  
  
"I have no bloody idea! It's pitch black in here!"  
  
"Well, look."  
  
A few seconds later, Heero heard a crunching sound. "Ow! I cut myself on some glass!"  
  
"Never mind," aid Heero. "I'll ask the others." He went to Relena's room and knocked.. "Hey, you have any music in there?" No response. "Hello?" He knocked louder. "'Lena? You in there?"  
  
He felt something brush his feet and looked down. It was the sheet music. "Oh." The Perfect Soldier looked at the music for a second, then knew what he had to do.  
  
"Marrrrry had a little lamb/ its fleece was white as snoooowww..."  
  
  
  
//on the other side of town, Trowa, Sally, Noin and Duo are lined up at the edge of a stream. On the other side was Cooper and Hilde; the host had an airhorn.//  
  
"Ready, set, go!" The race was on. Sally, not a good swimmer, quickly fell behind. Duo, having plenty of swimming experience from CHROMUS's first Survivor fic, sped ahead. Trowa and Noin settled into a virtual tie for second. A caption on the bottom of the viewers' screens show Hilde's picked order: Trowa, Duo, Sally, and then Noin.  
  
Duo makes it to the other shore in one minute, forty-five seconds, and hops onto one of four waiting bicycles. Trowa and Sally are both in at 1:57, and go for the same bike. Trowa backs off, and loses a few seconds, but is close behind in third. Noin makes it ashore as Trowa pulls out of view, in 2:26. She grabs the last bike and pedals furiously to keep up.  
  
//interview with Noin.//  
  
"I never knew how good the other three were at swimming. Or possibly how bad I was at it. I didn't expect to be in last place, but Duo made such a wake in crossing that he almost sank all of us."  
  
//about a mile down the road, the cycle course straightens out. Duo is still in the lead, and behind him by a couple of hundred yards, there are the rest of the competitors in a group. The scene switches to the back group, showing Noin blowing by the other two.//  
  
"Don't hurt yourself, Lucretzia." Sally looked up to see the group of two he was in turn to three, then two again as Noin passed.  
  
"Sally," said Noin, panting, "I'd like to say this in the nicest way possible: Go to hell." She sped off.  
  
"Interesting," said Trowa. He faced Sally. "Which one of us do you think Hilde picked to finish ahead of the other?"  
  
"No idea. Could go either way, But can't talk. Gotta save breath."  
  
"Right."  
  
  
  
//interview with Relena.//  
  
"Okay. Heero's right outside of my room and I give him the music. Then all of a sudden he bursts into song. And Heero does not have a good sounding voice."  
  
Heero finished "Mary Had a Little Lamb" on a crashing chord, one any metal band would have been proud of. He looked at Tenchi. "Well?"  
  
"Well?"  
  
"Um okay..." Heero recounted the clue in his head. "Huh." He walked over to Quatre's room. "Here." He slid the music underneath the door. "Sing."  
  
"Don't have to," was the response. In a few seconds, xylophone music poured out. Quatre went through the music, and said, "Now that was much better sounding than the singing."  
  
"Shut up." Heero looked around again for any indication that this would free one of the trapped players, but nothing was seen...at first. Heero then felt someone tug at his pants. Looking down, he saw a little French girl of seven , with the key. She handed it to him.  
  
"Merci." He tried the key in Quatre's door, but it wouldn't quite fit. He crunched his face, but then went down the line, to Relena, then Zechs, and then Traize.  
  
In Traize's lock the key fit. "Ah." The door opened, and the second player was released. "There."  
  
"Second clue," said Tenchi. "The room of the computer queen has the power to release someone." He looked at his watch. "Six minutes have passed, you have twenty-four left."  
  
//back to the triathlon.//  
  
Duo pulls into the second checkpoint after a total of 15:12. He put on running shoes and started off on his mile. Noin had maintained her lead over the other two for the rest of the cycling leg and made it to the start of the run in 16:05. Sally made it to the finish line after 16:48 and Trowa was only two seconds behind.  
  
This day was far cooler than the day before, and Cooper and Hilde, in a car passing the contestants at the beginning of the run, are both wearing jackets. However, with the cool air and the cold water for the swim, the players are still sweating freely.  
  
//interviews.//  
  
Duo: "I went maybe half of the mile without looking back. I didn't want to know how close the other were. But halfway there, on another long straight-away, I looked back and realized that I almost had it in the bag."  
  
Lucretzia: "I had started off the run in second, and I had started to catch up with Duo, until I realized that I had been pushing myself too hard for too long. My body had been shocked by the cold water followed by the bike ride and my legs just started to quit."  
  
Sally: "Because he's taller, I let Trowa pass me and I stuck right behind him, to take advantage of the wind shear he created. Maybe a third of the way there, we had caught all the way back up with Noin and she got behind me. But then, maybe three or four hundred yards from the finish, she just started to drop way behind. I looked back and she looked terrible."  
  
//Duo crosses the line in 21:51 as the winner. Behind, Sally and Trowa cross as a group, with Trowa in at 23:05 and Sally just three seconds behind. Walking up to the finish line was Lucretzia, in 24:42.//  
  
Cooper greeted each of the racers as Lucretzia crossed the line. "Well, that was a good race everyone, I think you all did quite well. The order of finish was Duo, followed by Trowa, then Sally, and then Lucretzia. Hilde's order was..." After a short, pregnant pause, "Trowa, Duo, Sally, and Lucretzia. First and second place were wrong, but third was correct, for a total of five thousand dollars."  
  
//interviews//  
  
Hilde: "I only got two of the four wrong, but the last two were the ones that I got right. Five thousand out of a possible $25,000 was not what I had expected."  
  
Sally: "Why did she put Trowa into first place? It seems a little bit unlikely to me. I almost beat him, and he was a full minute or two behind Duo."  
  
//back to Super Breakout. Fourteen minutes have elapsed out of thirty. Interview with Traize.//  
  
"The clue was this hazy mishmash in my mind. I didn't get it at all. Digital queen, or computer queen...I knew it had to deal with Relena, but how? And where did her hotel room number get into it?" //scene of Traize scratching the back of his head and Heero pacing.// "Then, all of a sudden, it hit me."  
  
Traize pulled out his keys and faced a blank wall, facing away from the rooms where three were still trapped. He got the key that had freed him from his room and made a tiny scratch in the wall. Beneath the yellow paint, there laid a coat of deep green. "Perfect." He began to scratch a series of numbers into the wall:  
  
128-64-32-16-8-4-2-1  
  
Taking a second look at Relena's hotel number, he ended up with:  
  
128-64-32-16-8-4-2-1  
  
001-01-00-01-0-1-1-1=215 (It's hard to show this all on Microsoft Word, so I had to add in the extra zeroes in some places-Daniel)  
  
Heero stopped to take a look at Traize was doing. He looked at the wall for a few seconds, and then said, "I know exactly what you are doing and nothing you are doing."  
  
"Doesn't matter." Traize combined the ones and zeroes in the bottom row, and put in the dashes.  
  
1-101-0111. A perfectly reasonable phone number. "Relena!" Traize hollered. "Relena! Look for a phone in your room!" He went to Zechs's room, echoed his statement to him ("How? I can't see a thing!") and to Quatre. Running back, he kicked the phone slid under the door by Relena to Heero.  
  
Heero began dialing. "Mighty clever." He listened for several ring, then hung up. "Unfortunately they are not home."  
  
"Somebody call?" From behind Heero, a waiter with the third key on a silver platter had gone up to the players.  
  
  
  
"Third clue," said Tenchi, after they had freed Relena. "Respect the masked man."  
  
"How?" asked Zechs, after the obvious part. "How can I help you? It's dark in here and I think I cut myself. A light would be helpful."  
  
"I'm there." Heero streaked down the stairs. Relena, meanwhile, took his space in front of the door.  
  
"Brother, feel along the walls. The floor and ceiling, after that. See if there's any strange lumps anywhere. There's a lot of hidden items in the rooms."  
  
Heero went out the front lobby and into an alley, adjacent to the rooms. After picking out what he thought was Zechs's room, Heero picked up a large rock and threw it into the appropriate window. It cracked noisily, and with one more rock, the window was completely broken.  
  
Heero was about to run back u, until he heard Zechs, two stories up. "Can you catch?" In his hand was the fourth key.  
  
//23 minutes elapsed, seven remaining.//  
  
Quatre received the final clue: "Around and around the players may go; the Mole can control all. And the Mole is hungry"  
  
Heero smiled. At least, he gave the equivalent for him. "I know exactly what he's talking about." He looked around. "Who had food in their room?"  
  
"I did." Traize went back into his room and retrieved his carrot. "Where do I go for this?"  
  
"Down the stairs, out the door, and down the street right in front of the hotel half a block to the right. To the roundabout."  
  
"Got it." Outside Traize began to jog. He didn't want to get the key and return too late. It wasn't apparent at first, but as he approached the roundabout, he saw the white SUV with the Mole logo on the side.  
  
He jogged up to the window. Inside, Ayeka was petting Ryo-okayi. "Have you the carrot?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
The final trade went down: one carrot for one key. Traize bolted for the hotel.  
  
  
  
"Congratulations, players." It was the next day at dusk, after dinner. Cooper was semi-formally dressed, and the players were also in sort of dress-casual wear. "You completely accomplished the Super Breakout Game, and even though you didn't completely win the Triathlon, an additional $5,000 out of $20,000 was won in the game. A total of $45,000 was won in this round, for a grand total thus far of $194,000."  
  
//interviews//  
  
Heero: "Traize's idea was so smart, and worked on the first time so well, he has flown up the list of suspects for me. The average person couldn't have figured that out with all of the time in the world. It would have taken *me* a while, too."  
  
Zechs: "That was good teamwork there in the game. As Traize and Heero were trying to free Quatre, Relena was down stairs throwing rock at the window and giving me light. We had to work together to win that mission and we did, so I'm starting to doubt the Mole was even in that game."  
  
Relena: "About the same time as the Diary game, my teddy bear disappeared. It just vanished into thin air." //shot of Trowa stealing the bear.// "It might jut be lost, or the Mole may be holding it for a ransom. I've torn up my room in trying to find out who took it."  
  
"Tonight," continues Cooper, "you will have your final game before the fourth execution. As a couple of you know, two days ago Relena's beloved teddy bear was taken from her room by an operative working for an exemption on tomorrow's quiz. That agent was Trowa. Within the town, we have hidden Heeko the bear. For this game, you will split into two unequal groups: Relena, and the rest of you. And because she has a rather unfair disadvantage, she I getting dressed in a sweat suit. You all must stay in the clothes you have on now. Here, there are eight cycling legs; and a final leg. At the end of each leg you will get directions to the next, and in the final five leg, the location of the finish line will be further refined, until the exact intersection can be found. You each have maps where the original names of the streets are replaced by numbers. You will start in a few minutes; pick who's doing what. If the team wins, $20,000 is added into the pot, otherwise, Relena wins an exemption."  
  
//in a few minutes, Sally lines up on her bike with Relena. A signal is sounded, and they are off. Personal interviews, with scenes of the chase shown.//  
  
Relena: "Instead of the direction left or right, there were compass directions. The first leg of mine was north, east, north, east. No shortcuts allowed. I had a little bit of an edge because my legs at the end were shorter-the other team had fresh people at each-and I didn't have to be all dressed up."  
  
//because of the length of this chapter, the race will only be quickly recapped here:  
  
//In the first leg, Sally was restricted badly by her formal ware, and Relena was able to take a half-block lead. Quatre, seemingly, was reluctant to get sweaty in good clothes, and so was Hilde, the third rider. Relena's lead increased to two blocks, as each leg grew to five blocks in length.  
  
//Trowa closed much of the gap in the fourth leg, and Relena only had about a block's lead heading into the fifth leg. Also, by completing the fourth leg, Relena knew, within a half-mile, where her finish line was. In the fifth leg, both she and Hilde took an accidental wrong turn, but not for long. Relena' lead stayed stable, even though she was growing very tired. The location was honed to within a quarter-mile.  
  
//In the sixth leg, Traize turned Relena's lead into a two-block deficit, with a great time. However, starting with the seventh leg, the team's legs were seven blocks as Relena's stayed five. At the completion of her sixth leg, Relena had the quarter-mile cut in half. With the shorter legs, Relena was able to halve the lead the team had in the seventh, with Lucretzia cycling, and in the eighth, she stayed in it, still just a block back even after Heero's leg. Those two legs gave her the exact street and avenue of the intersection, and he peeled off, as well as she could, after it. Duo, the last cyclist of the group, did the same, but he mistook Street 14 with Street 13, and went to the wrong intersection and stayed there, thinking he had won. Relena pedaled to the correct intersection and won an exemption from execution. Not long after, Duo a mobbed by his team and was thrown into a pond.  
  
//interviews.//  
  
Relena: "Near the end there, I was all dizzy and on the verge of passing out...I was positive that I had lost, but I pedaled on to the finish line just to make sure. Then I find out about Duo. What a wonderful, nutty guy."  
  
Hilde //VO over a shot Duo taking his post-race swim//: "How could he not get to the right spot? It was insane! Before now, I didn't have any suspicion of him, but now I'm going to look at him closer."  
  
Quatre: "I noticed, at the end of my leg, that when Relena looked at her direction to the next stage, she hardly did so. She glanced at it so quickly that I think she might have had foreknowledge to where she had to go.//  
  
//the following night, at the execution dinner. Unlike the other three up until then, no one is talking. A couple are making simple comments quietly, but nothing like the banter the previous few rounds.//  
  
Hilde: "The first three of the dinners weren't so bad, but now everyone is starting to mesh together now. Cathy was fanatical and Dorothy and Wufei didn't get along so great, but now it's getting much harder to get rid of one of our own. There are no more outsiders."  
  
//the group finishes and proceeds to the quiz, in a twilight-lit vineyard. Sally is on, "How many rounds of passing were there in the Diary Game?"//  
  
Sally: "There was no shortage of sabotage or maybe-sabotage in this round, but you can't just look at that. You have to look at the games themselves and remember everything within."  
  
//Zechs is on, "How many picks were correct in the Triathlon?"//  
  
Zechs: "I was nowhere near the game, but you have to know everything. Having an alliance in this point in the game is so crucial so all bases are covered."  
  
//Quatre is on, "Who is the Mole?"  
  
Quatre: "Zechs claimed to be the Mole, but Hilde, Relena and Duo were so suspicious in the round, too. It's a crapshoot at this point in guessing who's the Mole."  
  
//the execution. Anderson is in front of the players in the typical arrangement, with the execution computer.//  
  
"Well," said Cooper, "All of you have survived the opening three rounds of the game, gaining $194,000 for the pot. However, one more of you must leave the game immediately, and become the game's fourth victim. We shall start with Trowa."  
  
Cooper typed in the pilot's name into the computer and enters it in. After an eternal moment, it flashes green. Trowa gives an uncharacteristically big gasp of relief.  
  
"Quatre." Cooper entered the name as Quatre clung to Trowa, petrified at what the result may be. It seems almost prophetic, as the screen flashed red, and Quatre became the Mole's fourth victim.  
  
Quatre gasped, frozen. After a couple of seconds, he mournfully got up and picked up his bag. He hugged Trowa and Relena and made his way to the waiting limo, with Cooper.  
  
"It's getting harder," Cooper simply remarked. Quatre went into the limo, and was ushered away.  
  
//interviews.//  
  
Trowa: "Quatre...what a friend. I cannot say anything more than that. He played well and hit bad luck far too early.//  
  
Zechs: "When I told him I was the Mole, I knew that he could be eliminated, but...whoa. I didn't think that the result would be so...big. I knew and didn't knew."  
  
//Quatre rides back to the hotel under the umbrella of stars.//  
  
Now, you can play along. Take the players' ten question quiz:  
  
Did the Mole get their diary back in the Diary Game?  
  
How many rounds of passing were there in the Diary Game?  
  
After the Diary Game, was the Mole in the first group to go sight-seeing? (See above for who went when.)  
  
In what order did the Mole leave his/her room in the Super Breakout game?  
  
At the beginning of the Super Breakout game, was the Mole in darkness?  
  
What order did the Mole finish in the Triathlon?  
  
How many picks in the Triathlon were correct?  
  
In which order did the Mole go in for the Save Heeko game?  
  
Did the Mole take a wrong turn during the Save Heeko game?  
  
Who is the Mole?  
  
Ah, the fourth round ends. If you have fallen in love with this story, I strongly urge you to read the fanfics of CHROMUS, Survivor Globie, and arpulver for more reality show action. Also, I will soon be beginning a fic on Big Brother, which has just ended here in the United States. Be sure to check that out, and my other fine fics. 


	5. Mole River

The New Betrayal  
  
Daniel Ocean  
  
//host Anderson Cooper appears on the TV screen of hundreds of thousands of homes across the world and in the colonies.//  
  
"Welcome to the Mole. Thirteen players try to complete missions across Europe to gain money toward the pot. Money is gained as games are won, however, one amongst them is the Mole, a secret agent planted by the producers to foil the players. Up to one million dollars hinges on the question: Who is the Mole?  
  
//nine pictures, one of each remaining contestant, pops up on the screen//  
  
Heero, 19, Army soldier, Sapporo, Japan  
  
Hilde, 18, Auto dealer, Munich, Germany  
  
Trowa, 19, Circus performer, St. Petersburg, FL  
  
Lucretzia, 24, Test driver, Tucson, AZ  
  
Zechs, 25, Air Force Lieutenant, Pueblo, CO  
  
Sally, 22, Police officer, Preventers colony  
  
Duo, 19, Junk yard owner, L2 colony  
  
Relena, 20, Doctor, Birmingham, England  
  
Traize, 26, Appraiser, New York City, NY  
  
//the map of Europe, the tour du jour of the game thus far, again appears in front of the screen at the beginning of the episode. It focuses on the players' new location, of Northern France, near Calais. And for the first time, there is a mini-preview: Relena in a bathtub floating in the river, pushing it along with an oar; and Traize falling out of an inner tube piloted by Hilde and Trowa.  
  
//Meanwhile, though, we get some interviews.//  
  
Heero: "I sort of suspect Duo. He wasn't on par in the last relay game, the Heeko game, and he couldn't beat Relena to the town in the very first game, even though he was strong enough to win the Triathlon thing."  
  
Duo: "I think Relena's the Mole. She is smart, so she should be confident in the quizzes, but she fought so hard for that exemption there that she becomes suspicious in my eyes."  
  
Trowa: "Zechs has been suspicious since the Running of the Tiny cars, and his sticking by Quatre right before he was eliminated makes him my best suspect."  
  
Relena: "I've seen how Zechs has acted...strangely. And another big suspect of mine is Hilde. She's been acting as weirdly, if not more so. I'm sticking by her with the cover of the coalition to try to find out more."  
  
Hilde: "Relena has acted suspiciously before, but the performance in the first game, and the Save Heeko game, both just take the cake."  
  
Sally: "I think that the Relena/Hilde group is either knowing in who the Mole is, or one of them is the Mole. But I really, honestly don't know. I'm splitting my vote between them to buy some time for now."  
  
Lucretzia: "Hilde's actions have been a little bit at a time-nothing too suspicious, but it's just enough to throw us off, just like a Mole. And Duo has been the same thing. I still remember the way he treated the Grape- Picking game."  
  
Zechs: "I'm just trying to get people to think I am the Mole so they have worse scores than even I. I'm having big problems."  
  
Traize: "Not sure. I thought at first it was Cathy, but then she left in the second round. I thought that Lucretzia's tweaking the girls in Karaoke was big, as was her losing big, apparently, in the Triathlon. That's...surprising."  
  
//like last week, the players start their missions all collected in front of the hotel, eating, but instead of breakfast, the group is enjoying a simple lunch of fish and chips. There are ten seats at the large circular table, one being empty.  
  
//Anderson Cooper quietly joins the group, dressed in rubber and fishing guard, and serves himself, as if there is nothing going on that is significant. Within a few moments, everyone is looking up and tittering.//  
  
"Hello, everyone."  
  
"Hi there." "Hello." "Nice outfit, Coop."  
  
"If you guys would like to know why I am dressed in a way that I am, you guys should assemble right here this afternoon at two." Cooper picked up his plate and started to walk away. "We have theme games this round."  
  
//interviews.//  
  
Hilde: "When Cooper said that there was going to be theme games, and he was dressed in that fisherman's suit, I screamed on the inside. 'Noooooooo!' I can't do water too well."  
  
//the next scene is a brief time-lapse thing, with the players running around in the hotel, followed by them going out to the hotel courtyard, with a blur-Cooper-joining them briefly, until all of them load into a van in front. They all apparently go off to the same location. The scene returns to normal, as the van pulls up to the river, near an assemblage of several forty-gallon white porcelain bathtubs, complete with faucets.//  
  
Cooper, normally dressed, popped out of the driver's seat of the van. The nine players climb out the back one by one, and the look on their faces, when they see the bathtubs, is quite priceless. The host went between them and the tubs and addressed them in a cheerful manner.  
  
"Players," he said, "welcome to the Bathtub Race." There was a pause for laughter and groans, the most impressive of the latter coming from Heero. "First of all, the group of you have to take a pair of polls. It isn't too major, no secret ballot is needed. First, who would you like most to see win the pot money and the game in the end, other than yourself?"  
  
At first, the votes went in all directions, but after a few moments, many of the votes went Trowa's way. "Very well. This is still for all of you. Which amongst you do you think is not-not-the Mole?  
  
This vote went a shade faster, with the majority of the votes settling for Sally. "Okay, that's fine. Now, in some Mole games, there is a vote like this to determine the main players of a game." //shot of Sally grimacing.// "This is sort of the same. They will have a major part of the game, but they will not going to be climbing into the bathtubs with the rest of you. The rest of you should pick a tub, now."  
  
Duo jogged ahead of the rest of the group and claimed the first tub. He looked inside, then pulled back a little bit. "Uh," he said uneasily, "do we have to keep all of those rubber duckies in there?"  
  
"Yes, that will be a part of the game." Once all of the players had gone off to claim their tub, he turned back to Trowa and Sally. "Now," he said, "you guys will be determining how the money shall be won. There is a total of $30,000 on the line, and you will be betting on who will be finishing where, like in a couple of previous games. You will put $15,000 on the winner, $10,000 on the second-place skipper, and $5000 on third. You have seven minutes to make your decisions."  
  
//the shot first focuses on the two bettors, wrinkling their noses as their teammates try as well as they can to get into what are largely already occupied tubs. As they speak, their conversation becomes a VO with a montage of the players. The first to speak is Trowa.//  
  
"Okay. Um, well...all right..."  
  
//in getting into his, Traize displaces a dozen duckies.//  
  
"You know what? I think we really got to pick the pilots if they are going to go out boating. The stream looks rather choppy."  
  
"Yeah. You think that this is something that Heero is going to be good at?"  
  
//the camera zooms in on Duo, who turns to the camera and squeezes the many duckies in his hand.//  
  
"That's a good pick to win. Zechs for second? I think he's really overdue to have a really great game."  
  
"Sure."  
  
//Hilde is buried up to her shoulders in yellow plastic.//  
  
"Good God, the producers are losing their minds."  
  
"Hmmm." Trowa paused in quiet contemplation. "Duo has been so good in so many games; you think we should put him into third?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess so. If he does bad in this one, we can label him as a suspect, probably, right?"  
  
"Uh-huh. Good when he's good and bad when he's bad."  
  
//Lucretzia is doing little dance steps to 'Splish Splash' in her tub, and Heero is sitting on the rim of his, not yet trying to get into it, clearly embarrassed over the entire situation.//  
  
"Is that it?"  
  
"I think so. Get Anderson over here and tell him the picks."  
  
//after a scene change...//  
  
"All right players..." Anderson stood where all of the contestants, all of whom besides Heero were in their tubs, could best hear him. "We have some movers coming to get you into position. Sally and Trowa have made all of their picks, and it's fifteen thousand for the win, ten thousand for the second place and five thousand for third place. Good luck in getting where you need to be, and if the current knocks you out of your boat, then float on your back, feet-first." He began to walk away, then turned back to the contestants. "Oh, yeah: you all have one hundred duckies in each of your boats, which will be counted at the end. If by then you have fewer than fifty, then you automatically place behind anyone who has at least that many. Good luck!"  
  
//the Ronin Warriors come out and drag them into the river, one by one, where Cy, the water warrior, keeps them in place until a rope from one back to the other can be hooked onto each boat. All players are wearing life vests, and Hilde has a camera in her lap. When all seven are in, the rope is cut, and the racers are off onto the course, which is a little over a half-mile in length.//  
  
"Ahhhh!" Hilde and Relena took the early lead, with their low weights and good floating ability. The rapids were going at several miles an hour, and rocks made the river bounce up to a foot in the air. When Relena first hit one such rock, she hit a jarring stop, and staying on the rock, spinning wildly whilst spilling a dozen or so of her duckies. She was only released by Traize, who was heavy enough to not only knock her off, but also stay completely off of it. The other low-weight players were bouncing all around the river, and the high-weight players had the best attributes, bouncing less and keeping more of their ducks while keeping more duckies.  
  
After fifty yards of rapids, which had followed a hundred yards of even river, the water calmed down again and went into a wide bend. The current took the players to the outside part of the turn, where the entire cast of "Mobile Suit Gundam" and "Gundam 0080" were waiting with water pistols and power water guns. They were all very good shots; one camera shot-from the inside of Hilde's boat-showed a seeming shower rain upon the captain.  
  
"Hey!" she shouted. "Look out there"  
  
//interviews//  
  
Hilde: "All of them were very good shots. They were all from the One-Year War, when everyone was a soldier, and they showed off their skills on us, if we weren't cold enough before."  
  
Duo: "By then I was last. And they could see I was last. It felt like I was in a cold downpour when I passed by them. I think Amuro Ray emptied his entire gallon-pistol on me."  
  
As the end of the turn tapered off, the players had separated from their weight groups, going into the order of Traize, Zechs, Relena, Lucretzia, Hilde, Heero, and Duo bringing up the back.  
  
The two Gundam boys, not at all happy at their standing, whipped out their oars and paddled furiously, passing Hilde and Lucretzia. Seeing the boys go by, they also went as fast as they could, and by the time the next round of raids struck, all of the players were near-even and faster than they had been the first time.  
  
Heero, the first to hit a large rock, had the front of his pitch upward, spilling dozens of ducks-and almost him with them-backwards into the cold water. Traize, heavier than Heero, hit the rocks even harder, pitching less but almost cracking the bottom of his tub. The other layers all had the same experience, and the river soon grew thick with ducks. Hilde's cam showed a considerable amount of water in her tub, with maybe five or six dozen ducks remaining. It seemed to be floating low in the water, surrounded by other players' ducks. In fact, as she steered with the oar with her right hand, she was scooping up ducks beside her and putting them in her tub, one at a time.  
  
After another hundred yards of rapids and five minutes into the race, the racers reached the final stretch, two hundred yards of clear water with some sprinklers on each bank. Duo lead, with Traize and Zechs behind. Behind were Lucretzia and Hilde, who was almost falling out of her tub. Relena and Heero were well behind, she having fallen out of her tub and floating with him, holding onto the side of his tub with him trying to pry her off. Because he was using his oar to do this, they floated off to the side of the stream and duped it out there.  
  
The lighter racers again began to pick up speed, with their better floating ability. Fifty yards to go, it was a five-way traffic jam for first, not including dozens of Heero's ducks and Relena's empty tub.  
  
In the end, Hilde went around all of the racers and crossed the finish line first, immediately followed by Zechs, then Traize, who beat out Lucretzia for third by just a half-length. Duo was fifth, a few seconds behind. Relena and Heero, too deeply beached, failed to finish, though Relena's rider-less bathtub did come in ahead of Duo.  
  
//all of the competitors are lined up in front of Anderson, and everyone save Trowa and Sally are soaking wet.//  
  
"That was a fairly good race, everyone. From where I was, it was quite entertaining. Did you like the rapids? Great how all of you were bouncing about the place. I saw Heero go, "whew!" and pitch all the way up...it was incredible.  
  
"Anyway, you all finished in the order of Hilde, Zechs, and Traize. Trowa and Sally selected the order of...Heero, Zechs, and Traize. Therefore ten thousand dollars is added to the pot, making it $204,000. You all will now return to the hotel, dry off, and have the rest of the day off. Your next mission will be tomorrow afternoon."  
  
//interviews//  
  
Heero: "When Relena left her boat, she let herself be passed by Zechs before she latched onto me. I still had a shot to win. I think she may have been trying to keep money out of the pot, thinking that I'd be picked to finish in the top three. And I was."  
  
Relena: "I was trying to remember to keep on my back and my feet forward. I figured that I couldn't teach Millardo without going onto my belly, so I waited to get the next person who passed."  
  
Duo: "We should of thrown in Sally AND Trowa AND Cooper for staying dry. That water was coooooold. And it was a cold, overcast, unpleasant day...kind of...not fun for something like this. The Mole has to be in Jamaica or something next time around."  
  
//that night, at the dinner table.//  
  
"Well." All were sitting indoors at what looked to be a couple of counters, eating placidly until Duo spoke up. "If we win the next game and that's one of forty or so thousand dollars, then were up to about a quarter of a million, instead of the hundred and some-odd we had up until today. It's really starting to look pretty good."  
  
Heero snorted. "Is that what you care about there, Duo? Money?"  
  
"Don't you want to win?"  
  
"Not necessarily for the money. As long as I get what I would have gotten at my job I'm fine."  
  
"You are not at all motivated by the fact that you could win five or six hundred thousand dollars by the end of this? C'mon. Anyone would like to have that much money given to them. Right?"  
  
No one responded, not wanting to really side with both, even if all had one decision or the other.  
  
//interview with Sally//  
  
"Duo is making much too big of a deal over the money from winning. I want to win some money, too, sure but we are all guaranteed at least a little bit of money. A little bit more, now, since we all are going to be in the top nine. He's being a little too secular."  
  
//shot of Duo and Heero going off in opposite directions in obvious disgust, with a VO of Zechs//  
  
"Those two must be kept away if possible. Heero doesn't seem to b all that forgiving. I'm not all that forgiving, myself. And if I'm him, I start sabotaging Duo left and right whether or not I'm the Mole."  
  
//the next day. The players are in the field once again, at another creek- possibly the same one, but if that were true, far away from the site of the first game. Here, the water ran deeper, wider, and with an even swifter current. Three large inner-tubes await the players, as do nine foam rings. When all assemble before these object, knowing what's going to happen, Cooper explains the details.//  
  
"Welcome, players, to the Gathering Boat Journey. In this game, all of you will break into three groups of three, get onto one of the large inner tubes, and then gather some of the objects hanging from the cords stretched above the river." //shot of these cords, which have objects like plastic rings, rubber chickens, and little pyramids.// "There are twenty cords total, each with a pyramid, two chickens, three rings and five foam balls. There is a point value to the objects. One foam ball is twenty-five points, a ring is fifty, a chicken is one hundred, and a pyramid is two hundred fifty. The team with the most points at the end of the race earns exemptions for each team member that stays in until the end. Also, if the teams combine to score at least six thousand points, then $25,000 is added to the pot." Cooper gestured to the inner tubes. "Pick your teams now, you have sixty seconds."  
  
Heero and Relena congealed into a pair, soon to be joined by Duo. Zechs and Noin did the same, and Sally joined her coalition-mate, leaving Zechs, Trowa, and Hilde as the final group.  
  
"Very good," said Cooper. "Now, all of you must don life-rings or life- vests, and then pick one of the inner tubes. All are the same, except for the number." (For ease of identification, the three tubes have large, black numbers on their otherwise yellow sides.) "Get into position, you'll be towed out into the water."  
  
//all of the inner tubes is hanging by a rope, like the way the tubs were in the previous game. VO by Cooper.//  
  
"All of the layers are fighting for an exemption, but there is an amount of group money that can be won with the exemption. With the game's format, will the players work together to add to the pot, or for themselves to try to get the exemption?"  
  
//the players are released, and slowly go off into the water.//  
  
Relena get up standing, and Heero and Duo sat on opposite ends of the inner tube to balance out the weight. Duo, in the back, also tried to steer. Traize, Hilde, and Trowa all sat up in their tube, and the OZ tube saw everyone taking turns at each position. As they went through the first round of objects, Traize got a pyramid, and each of the other two teams were able to collect the chickens.  
  
The river was so swift, it became to do any maneuvering to bump another team out of position for a big point gain. During the next four strings, the R-D-H group gets a pyramid and two rings, the OZ group gets two chickens, and the polyglot group got a pyramid, a chicken, and a foam ball. After a quarter of the course, the polyglot group has 500 points, the other two 450 apiece, thereby, slightly behind the pace to get to six thousand.  
  
At the sixth line, the camera focused on Relena grabbing a pyramid when there was a sudden yelp from off the screen. The camera shifts just fast enough to see Hilde fall into the water.  
  
//Hilde: "I was trying to reach over for the chicken, but it was about two inches out of my grasp...I leaned too far off to the side and slipped from my perch. It was lucky we didn't all fall in."//  
  
Hilde floated with the current for a little bit, until she saw the OZ boat and decided to hitch a ride along, a la Sally. Zechs, however, bops her with the oar to knock her off; she goes off to the side and beaches.  
  
All the players, especially the polyglot group, are more careful in their balance. However, each group got one pyramid over lines six, seven, and eight. R-D-H also got a chicken and foam ball, OZ the same, and polyglot a chicken. The score stayed close-polyglot had 850, with R-D-H and OZ just 25 behind. Zechs, trying to push OZ ahead, got far too greedy and fell victim to gravity, the second team to take the plunge. Slightly ahead, the other two teams had a collision, and Traize, hanging off the edge, also fell into the water, leaving only Trowa in the inner tube. With all the splashing about-especially by Traize, trying to throw off the other teams for Trowa-no one had any points for lines nine and ten.  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Traize: "I don't know why the three of them knocked me in. Maybe it was accidental. I hope so. Seven are better than six to get the money for this game."  
  
Zechs: "The game got too close too early. Everyone was striving too much to get the exemption and people tumbled in. If one team was winning by a blowout, then we could have had a shot at the money."  
  
Lucretzia and Sally got a pyramid for their group; the others each got a foam ball. The twelfth line saw all three groups get rings. No one was too busy bumping into each other-the river abruptly narrowed and all three teams smashed into each other-on the thirteenth line. Next, both the OZ group and the R-D-H group were in position to go up and get the pyramid. Neither team backed down, and the third collision of the race occurred. Relena took a tumble in and the OZ group flew off to the side.  
  
Trowa got a chicken that time, and a pyramid the next, as each other team got a chicken on the fourteenth line, as the points race tightened. On the next line, OZ was the only team to get anything, a ring. After a wide turn, the racers approached the final five lines, which were slightly higher and dispersed their goods over a wider area.  
  
OZ was able to get a chicken on the next line, as R-D-H got the pyramid and Trowa nothing. Everyone got foam balls the next line after that, but at that point, Trowa's boat was rocking dangerously. He simply sat and let himself cross the finish line, not going for any more items.  
  
Each remaining group got chickens from the eighteenth line. The final two lines, from there, were just a few feet apart, right after each other, and both teams had settled into a few feet of each other, with the river again narrowing and speeding up.  
  
Sally got up in her boat, wobbling, as did Heero. Under the water, though, was a trough that neither team could see, accelerating the boats forward. Sally, shorter than Heero, was able to duck down under the cords, but Heero got caught, from the armpits up. His feet were still in the boat, so both her and Duo found themselves caught in the current for a moment until Heero dropped down into the inner tube, stunned.  
  
"Looks painful."  
  
"Yeah..."  
  
Sally and crossed the finish line a few seconds behind Trowa, another few seconds head of Heero and Duo. The four ejected were already on land near the finish line. Lucretzia peered into her team's bin and said, "IU do think this'll be enough."  
  
"Ought to be. Better be."  
  
//as each bin in each inner tube is unloaded, the point totals are shown in subtitles: polyglot, 1300 points, OZ, 1500 points, and R-D-H, 1400 points. For staying in the OZ tube the whole time, Sally and Lucretzia get exemptions; with a total of 4200 points, the team failed to get the $25,000.  
  
//personal interviews//  
  
Relena: "Now, when Traize fell out of his tube, and started to throw water at us...was that just because he was helping his teammate for the mission, or because he didn't want anyone to get anything?"  
  
Sally: "That last lines was incredible. I've never seen anyone hung up like Heero. He used to be the Perfect Soldier; what's happened to him? Has his brain been sucked out by aliens from Planet Twinkie? Very uncharacteristic of him."  
  
Duo: "That was not fun, those last lines. We were just a chicken behind the girls. If he could only duck, Heero could've gotten us exemptions. He should be able to do that-I've seen a whole lot more from him. So why couldn't he; or, why didn't he?"  
  
Trowa: "I didn't know how close I was when I gave up. I could have won with a pyramid. And, I was in the lead, so I would've had the first opportunity to get them. I'm not pleased with myself."  
  
Hilde: "Trowa could have gotten the exemption for himself, but he decided not to risk it when it wouldn't have cost him anything. Did he do that because he knew he wouldn't need an exemption?"  
  
//the execution dinner. All of the players are at two tables in a creepy, ivy-overgrown, dark courtyard.//  
  
"Wow." Duo looked in all directions, both impressed and a little uneasy. "They really make these places worthy of Walt Disney, don't they?"  
  
"I don't care." Sally, safe for this round, was finishing up fairly nonchalantly. "Anything beats the graveyard he had that execution in."  
  
//the test. Heero is on, "Did the Mole participate in the Bathtub Race?"//  
  
Heero: "Some of the choices by Sally and Trowa were strange in the light of the final results. Of course no one has had any experience handicapping bathtub races, but it is still vaguely suspicious."  
  
//Trowa is answering, "Did the Mole lose their tub during the race?" A shot of Relena falling from the bathtub is shown as Trowa's thinking is given in a VO.//  
  
"Relena was light enough to float high enough to go pretty fast. Did she fall and try to lose the group money? And then she pulled Heero away from the race when he was picked as the favorite. She's been suspicious the whole race and now her actions make her seem like the Mole more and more."  
  
//Hilde is answering, "Which tube was the Mole in for the Gathering race?"//  
  
Hilde: "I really think that Trowa was thinking that we could have enough to earn money for the pot. And obviously, if he's the Mole, he wouldn't need an exemption, would he?"  
  
//Relena is on the final question: "Who is the Mole?"//  
  
Relena: "Zechs has been suspicious, Hilde has been suspicious, but this round Heero took the cake. He had a couple of seconds to get out of the way of a non-moving rope, and he-the Perfect Soldier!-just couldn't do it."  
  
//the execution. Cooper stands before all of the players, with the computer set up with the score results.//  
  
"Tonight, I welcome you to the fifth execution that you face as a group. Seven of you are eligible to leave tonight; Lucretzia and Sally have exemptions. I will type in your name into the computer, if the screen flashes green you're fine, but if it flashes red, you've become the Mole's newest victim. We will start with Zechs."  
  
Cooper typed in Zechs's name into the computer, and entered it in. After a moment, the screen flashed green.  
  
"Duo." Duo chewed on his braid as he watched his name being entered into his computer. When it paused for a second, he started biting down harder, but it flashed green, and he tilted his head back, breathing a sigh of relief.  
  
"Trowa." He looked calmly as Cooper put in his name next, even through the wait for processing. After a moment, however, the screen flashed red.  
  
The Gundam pilot just nodded. "Very well." He shook with Duo, Heero, and then Cooper, and got a blind-side hug from a tearful Relena. He picked u his bags and walked calmly to the waiting limo, where Cooper opened the door for him and sent him off.  
  
Relena: "God, it was terrible to see Trowa leave. It was..."(starts to tear up again)..."I don't know how, but twice as bad as losing Quatre."  
  
Heero: "Trowa is one of calmness and honor, and does the Gundams proud. He shall be missed as a player."  
  
Sally: "Well, he had to say goodbye to his friend just a few days ago, and now he's gone as well. I think it could've affected him a little bit more than he let show."  
  
Trowa: "I thought I had answered the questions perfectly fine the last quiz. But that is the funny thing about the game. You could be answering the questions for what you think was a perfect score and still go out."  
  
//Trowa is driven off into the night.//  
  
You, too, can take the ten question quiz. See how your Mole-finding skills stack up:  
  
Did the Mole participate in the Bathtub Race?  
  
Was the Mole able to finish the race? (Y, N, Did Not Participate)  
  
Did the Mole lose their tub during the race?  
  
Where did the Mole finish during the race? (1-5, Did Not Finish, Did Not Participate)  
  
Did the Mole win money during the Bathtub race?  
  
Which tube was the Mole in during the Gathering Race?  
  
Did the Mole spill out of their tube during the race?  
  
Did the Mole earn an exemption during the race?  
  
What was the total number of points won by the Mole's team during the Gathering race? (1200, 1300, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700)  
  
Who is the Mole? 


End file.
